Remember Me
by Shy01
Summary: After Christa's disappearance, Clementine was saved by a boy who's past is very similar to her own. Together, they'll face the consequences of living in a world like that. People will die. They'll die for a reason. At least, that's what Clementine was told. Now she wonders if the boy was right about his words. Will he leave her life? ClemXOC! Rated M for adult themes and language.
1. Episode One- Chapter One: On The Path

**Remember Me**

 **Disclaimer:** _I don't own Walking Dead or any of its characters besides my OC. All rights go to Skybound and Telltale._

 _ **Chapter 1:**_ _On the Path_

 **Author's note:** _Okay, since my love for the Walking Dead is overwhelming, I decided to write another story for Walking Dead. This time it's a Clementine x OC one (My 3_ _rd_ _favorite pairing in the series behind Clem x Carl and Rick x Michonne). I hope you guys like my OC and I won't say too much about his past and family. That's for all of you to figure out. I'll drop some hints as the story goes by and hopefully by the time it ends or reaches its climax, you'll all know._

 _And yes, I will be doing a New Frontier sequel. That's all I gotta say for now._

* * *

" _Christa! RUN!"_

" _Jesus, are you fucking kidding me?!"_

" _Let go you little bitch!"_

" _AAARGGHHH!"_

" _CLEMENTINE!"_

Her eyes snapped open and she sat up with a gasp. The encounter with the bandits were replaying in her head, followed by her friend's screams. She was scared, scared that her friend didn't survive the attack and she was all alone once again. Just the thought of surviving with no familiar faces to support you scared her. Maybe she isn't dead, the one side of her brain trying to reassure herself. She heard her yell then a gunshot, she has to be dead, the other side argued.

Then she noticed her surroundings. It was dark out and a small campfire was burning in front of her. The sound of the wood cracking and burn reminded her of Christa and how she taught her how to make a fire. The sound of crickets and trees rustling also filled her ears.

She started to get up, but a sudden throbbing sensation from her shoulder stopped her. She must've hit it when she fell in the river.

"Oh good, you're up."

She turned her head to notice a boy about her age, sitting against a large rock, smiling at her. He had mid-length, shaggy black hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks. He was wearing a sleeveless, red sweatshirt with a black t-shirt underneath it, worn out blue jeans, and worn out hiking boots. On his wrist was a small watch, which looked old as well. The most noticeable feature of him was his blue eyes that seemed like they shined in the night.

Her eyes trailed down to the boy's bandaged hand which had blood stains on it.

He followed her gaze and held out his injured hand. "Oh this? It's nothing. I ended up cutting it when escaping from a walker. Don't worry about it."

"W-What happened?" She asks, rubbing her arms together from the cold wind.

His smile dropped to a frown. "I found you passed out on the shoreline not too long ago. Then I dragged you here." He says. "I ain't gonna sugarcoat it, but I thought you were dead. I was thinking about just leaving you there…but I couldn't."

Clementine's eyes went wide. She was shocked that she was nearly left to die just like that.

A short silence fell amongst the two of them before the boy's gentle smile came back. He reached behind him and pulled out a black drawstring bag. She heard a few things shuffle and clang together in the bag until he pulled out a water bottle. The outside of the bottle was covered with dirt stains, but the water inside was clean.

"I, uh, have some water if you're thirsty." He says awkwardly, handing Clementine the bottle. She thanked him with a nod and took a few sips. "What's your name? Sorry I didn't start our conversation with that. I figured you'd want to know what happened…"

Clementine looked at the boy for a brief second. "I'm Clementine." She answers, sending him a small smile while handing him his water back.

"Sweet name." He comments. "I'm Austin."

Clementine nodded, watching the wood crack and burn in the campfire. It was times like this she thought she'd never see again. Sitting beside the campfire, introducing yourself to other people like herself. Survivors who just want to help others survive. It was peaceful.

Austin looked at the girl next to him, taking in her features. He admired her copper eyes that made it look like they were gold and her short hair that was tied into two tiny ponytails. It was a smart haircut. The hat she wore was battle damaged, scratches and dirt were all over it. Like it mattered though. It wasn't like there was a working washing machine these days.

"You did this yourself?" She broke the silence whilst motioning to the campfire in front of her.

He nods. "Yeah, a friend of my Dad taught me…before all of this started." He responds. "I was a Cub Scout and he was one of the leaders. At first, I thought I'd never need to make a fire unless I was stranded or lost in the woods. Now look what happens." He chuckled to himself. "My Dad didn't like that. He thought I was too young to learn that kind of stuff. I wish he was here to see me now."

Clementine assumed the worst.

"Where's your Dad now?" She asks, looking at the boy sadly.

"Somewhere in Spain, I guess." He replies, shrugging his shoulders. "He said he was going to visit Barcelona for a while. He left me with one of his friends. I don't know if he's alive or what."

Clementine looked at the ground, feeling sorry for the boy. She knew how it felt to lose your parents when all of this happened. She thought her parents were alive and well. She couldn't wait to hug them and tell them how much she missed them. When she reached Savannah, it was too late. They became one of them. Walkers. The sight of them, their rotting flesh, was burned in her mind forever.

"What about you?" Austin's voice snapped Clementine from her thoughts. "Where are your parents?"

"They're dead." She simply states, glaring at the dirt beneath her.

Austin held his hands up. "I-I'm sorry for asking." He apologizes after picking up the girl's tone.

Clementine shook her head. "It's okay, I didn't mean to sound angry." She then hugged her knees to comfort herself. "I guess I couldn't accept the fact that they're dead. Them and Lee and Omid. Now Christa. It seems like everyone I get close to ends up getting killed."

Austin opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He was going to ask her who were these people she mentioned, but he put it in the back of his mind for later. For now, he wanted to comfort her. He wanted to be a good friend.

"You wanna know how I see things?" He asks, grinning.

Clementine nods, still looking hurt. "Sure."

"Those we lost, only make us stronger." Austin says, looking at his bloodied bandage for a second. "There's a reason why people come into our lives then leave, Clementine. They all teach us something about themselves or ourselves. Their lessons can be brief, but sometimes they last a lifetime. Even those who wish us harm, they teach us something. It's interesting. Nowadays, that's all I ever think about."

Clementine soaked in the words from the boy while staring in awe at him. His words touched her. Lee, Christa, Omid, Kenny…they all taught her something. Lee taught her the will to stay strong and survive. Christa taught her to keep moving even if a place seems safe. Omid taught her there was always time to smile in a world like this, especially the goofy ones like him. Kenny taught her family came first above anything else.

Now she wondered the reason why Austin came into her life.

"Anyway," Austin sighs, standing up. "I was thinking we leave once the sun rises. It's too dangerous to camp here for a while."

Clementine nods in agreement. "Can we look for my friend Christa? She's gotta be out there somewhere."

"Christa..?" Austin mutters before nodding. "Sure, we'll look for her then we'll decide where to head to. I heard Virginia ain't that bad."

"Well, she and I were moving on up to Wellington." Clementine said, flashing the boy a small smile. "We heard it's safe and the cold winters make the walkers slow."

Austin made a disgruntled face at the girl and said, "Cold winters? Snow and Ice ain't my thing. Well, if you think its best, then we'll go. Hell, it'll be nice to stay someplace for a while."

Clementine stood up and embraced the boy in a hug. "Thank you, Austin."

Said boy only stood stiff, not knowing what to do. It's been a while before he's been hugged, let alone by a girl his age. He didn't wanna be awkward, but he didn't wanna be creepy either. So, he simply patted Clementine on the back before she broke the hug.

"No problem." He smiles before yawning. "Well, let's rest up before sunrise. I'm gonna put the fire out." He takes out the half empty water bottle, takes a few sips, and dumps the rest in the fire to put it out. "Good thing I found another sleeping bag. Here, Clem."

He rolled out an orange sleeping bag that was covered in old blood.

"Ah!" Clementine gasped at the sleeping bag.

Austin chuckles, "I covered it in Walker blood so they don't eat us while we sleep. It still fuckin' stinks though. Sorry about that."

"Swear…" Clementine warned, eyes narrowed at the boy.

Austin laughs before shaking his head. "Night, Clementine."

She nods. "Goodnight."

* * *

Like Austin said, they left when the sun rose. They decided to leave their sleeping bags behind, figuring it'll just slow them down and hopefully they'd find somewhere safer to sleep. Clementine thought it was a bad idea because it might attract any bandits and follow their trail. Austin reassured her, saying if anything they'd just take the sleeping bags even if it was covered in blood. People were desperate these days.

They followed a dirt trail that led them through the forest. Both children kept check of their surroundings, hoping to not run into any walkers. The wind made the bushes and trees rustle, which made it worse for them. Crows fled from their spot in the trees that towered over them, making Clementine gasp.

Austin looked over his shoulder at the frightened girl. "It's okay to be scared. To be honest, I'm on edge too."

Clementine nods and followed behind the boy through the trail. They reached a fallen tree blocking their past. Austin led out a huff before barely climbing over the tree. Clementine followed with Austin helping her over.

Then she remembered she needed to find her friend. "Christa?" She calls out, trying not to be too loud. "You there?"

The only response she got was the wind howling.

"Let's keep moving." Austin says.

A nearby bush began to rustle a few yards away from them. Austin gave Clementine a nod before taking out a hunting knife from his belt. Clementine was surprised that she never it on him last night. She must've been too busy learning about the boy to notice. The boy approached the bush, his knife ready to stab and slash anything that was a threat to them.

He waited for a few seconds before a dog with brown fur emerged from the bushes. Austin sighed out in relief and put away the knife. "Oh, it's only a dog." He reassured Clementine, who walked towards the two. "Hey there, boy!"

When he reached to pet him, the dog let out a dangerous growl. Austin recoiled his hand back to his side, looking annoyed.

"It's okay, boy….It's okay." Clementine's soft voice made the dog stop growling. Austin looked at her stunned. "You got a name, boy?" She checked the dog's collar and smiled when she found its name. "Sam? Hey there, Sam."

The dog barked and wagged its tail, somewhat greeting her. He then snapped his head in the other direction, running further down the trail.

Austin rose an eyebrow. "What's he doing?" He asks.

"He wants us to follow him." Clementine replies before following the dog down the trail.

Austin stood there looking stunned again. Were they seriously about to follow a dog they just met?

Finally accepting the fact, he followed her. Sam barked a few times before leading them to an abandoned campsite. Well, both abandoned and destroyed. Debris of the burnt van were everywhere, Pots and pans were scattered everywhere, and one of the two tents were burnt while the other was ripped to shreds.

Sam sniffed around the area while Clementine waited behind the bushes for Austin. When said boy finally caught up, they entered the campsite, shocked by the amount of debris and destruction that was left behind.

"Jesus…" Austin mutters out, scanning the area. "This looks terrible, but we gotta find some food. I wouldn't mind for a can of beans."

Clementine nodded. "I can eat anything at this point." She then looked over at the tents. "I'll check around the tents. How about you check around the van, maybe find some food or anything useful?" Austin smiled and nods, obliging.

While searching, Austin found a few things that almost ruined his whole morning. He found a burnt doll, pretty much confirming a little girl use to be here. He also found a picture of the family and sure enough, there was a little girl in front of the family, looking as happy as ever. Also, Sam was in the picture, which made it even sadder. Poor dog must've ran away when his owners were killed…or even eaten.

He placed the belongings back in the van before continuing his search. His eyes lit up when he found a yellow Frisbee on the ground.

"Hey! Clem!" He called out to the girl. She quickly ran over, thinking he found something useful. "Look, a Frisbee. Maybe you wanna play with Sam for a bit?" He handed her the Frisbee and she thanked him with a nod.

"Hey boy, you wanna play?" The dog barked, its tail wagging again. Clementine flicked her wrist and the Frisbee went flying with Sam chasing after it. It didn't even touch the ground when Sam caught it and brought it back. "Good boy! Wanna go again?"

Austin smiled at the girl as she continued to play with Sam. Just watching the girl having fun and smiling made him happy. It was times like this that he missed. He loved seeing the smiles on people's faces as they talked and enjoyed one another's company. The last time he saw someone smile like that, besides himself, was his Uncle before he was gone from his life a few weeks ago. Walkers got'em. He didn't even have a chance to say goodbye.

"Aw, dang it!" Clementine groaned when the Frisbee went over the bushes and landed back in the forest. Sam whimpered. "It was fun while it lasted."

"At least you enjoyed yourself." Austin smirks, making Clem giggle at him. "C'mon, let's see what else we can find."

Before they could continue their search, Sam began to bark in a frenzy. He ran over to a tree near the tents and got in a defensive position. Clementine looked over at Austin, who shrugged, and walked closer to the dog.

Just when they reached him, the familiar sound of snarling and growling was heard. There was a walker tied against the tree, a small switchblade dug into its left shoulder. Clementine winced at the undead creature. He must've been tied to this tree so he couldn't harm others.

"Looks like he tried to cut the bite off." Austin points out, examining the wound on its shoulder.

Clementine looked down at the ground. She remembered Lee had his arm removed after he got bit. She thought he'd be safe, that he'd be with her again. She was wrong. He died from blood loss that day. He died saving her.

"That never works." Clementine nearly whispers to herself, but Austin heard what she said.

Again, he decided to keep his mouth shut for now.

Sam began to bark again. Austin quickly looked around, hoping his barking didn't attract any walkers. Well, beside the one in front of them.

"I got it." Austin took out his knife again and quickly dug it in the walker's skull. Blood spurted from the hole in its head and the snarling came to an abrupt stop. "Here, from me to you." He grinned, taking the blade from its shoulder and giving it to Clementine.

"Thanks." She wiped the blade clean on her pants.

Austin looked behind the tree when he noticed a garbage bin covered in flies. He made a disgusted face when he realized what he needed to do. He never liked getting dirty, despite enjoying the great outdoors very much. He didn't mind getting dirt on his hands but garbage is another thing.

He sighs, "Well, let's get this over with."

Clementine looked confused for a moment before she saw him approaching the garbage bin. Her face turned from confusion to disgust real quick. Austin took a deep breath and dug his hands through the garbage, hoping he wouldn't touch anything wet or something worse. A huge grin was plastered on his face when he pulled out a large can of unopened beans.

"Fuck yeah." He says to himself, holding out the beans for Clem to take. "Looks like my prayers have been answered!"

Clementine giggles, "You mean our prayers?"

"Right… _our_ prayers." He corrects himself as he watches Clem open the can with her new knife. It took a few stabs, but she finally opened the can and there were the beans in all their glory. Austin could feel his mouth start to water as he took a handful and threw them in his mouth. They were cold, but they sure did the job done.

Sam looked up at the two, head titled as if he was begging them to give him some.

Clementine swallowed her handful of beans. "Here you go, Sam." Instead of taking the beans from her hand, he knocked the can from her hand and ate them from there. "Hey!" She yells while scooping the can. "Don't eat it all!"

Sam let out a dangerous growl before clamping its jaw tight around Clementine's arm. She let out a terrified yell as Sam brought her to the ground. Again, the animal clamped its jaw on her arm again, blood dripping from its teeth.

"Clementine!" Austin gasps in shock, running to the dog and placing him in a chokehold. When the dog refused to lose its grip on the girl, Austin closed his eyes and stuck his knife in the dog's throat. Sam cried out and let go of the girl's arm, dying on the spot. "Jesus, Clem! You okay?!" He exclaims, placing his knife back in its holster.

Said girl could only stare in horror at her arm before looking at the dead dog beside her. "Austin…you killed him."

"I know. I had no choice." He looked down at his feet. "I'm more worried about your arm. It's bleeding…a lot. We have to find something to stop bleeding."

Clementine hissed in pain as she covered the wound with her sleeve. "We need to clean it before it gets infected."

Austin looked at the girl in worry. "I'm sorry Clem, but we gotta keep moving so we can find supplies for you. At least to clean your arm."

The boy helped Clementine to her feet and led her down the path, away from the campsite and the dead dog.

* * *

While continuing down the trail, Austin could feel Clementine get heavier and heavier as every passing minute goes by. She was exhausted, she needed to rest. At one point the girl dropped from Austin's side and groaned out.

"You okay?" He asks, kneeling beside her.

Clementine only groaned in response.

"Let me take a look." As instructed, Clementine pulled up her sleeve to reveal the bite. There was more blood than before and Austin started to get worried. "Shit, if we don't treat this right now, you might not make it." He held up his bandaged hand and ripped a piece of bandage. He wrapped it around some of the wound as best as he could.

"A-Austin!"

Said boy turned his head and spotted a walker approaching him from behind. He quickly took out his knife and plunged it in its skull as it tried to grab him. Clementine gasped when she noticed they were surrounded by them! They were everywhere!

"We can't stay here!" He shouts before helping Clem to her feet and running further down the path. They only reached a fair distance until a walker appeared out of nowhere and trampled on the two. Clem dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes and Austin fell face first in the dirt.

The walker on top of Austin snarls and tries to chomp at the boy's neck. Austin tried to reach for his knife but the walker was starting to overpower him. It's foggy, dead eyes stared right into his soul as its teeth came closer to his neck. Austin was grinding his teeth together, using all of his strength to push the walker off of him.

It let out another growl until it went limp, giving the boy enough strength to get him off. Clementine stood over him, taking deep breaths as she grasped her bleeding arm. She looked down at him, her face morphing from exhaustion to concern.

"Thanks." He huffs, quickly standing to his feet. When he noticed her concerned face, he titled his head to the side. "What?"

"Y-you're bleeding…"

He touched the side of his head, which stung and the familiar red substance ran down his head. Shit, she was right. He must've hit it when the walker landed on top of him. It wasn't fatal, but it stung. The blood ran from the corner of his head to the side of his chin.

"I'll be fine." He reassures her with a smile.

Another walker dropped dead behind them, this time with an arrow sticking out of its eye socket. They both quickly turned around and saw two men. One was a nearly bald headed old man wielding a crossbow while the other was a young man with brown hair carrying a machete. The younger man slashed at a walker near the kids, its head clean off its shoulders. The older man shot another arrow into a walker's skull.

The younger man approached the two, a serious expression on his face as more walkers surrounded them.

"I'm out." The older man exclaimed to the younger one. "Grab her and let's go!"

The man with the machete nods and picked Clementine off the ground. "Come one kid." He then turned to face Austin. "Keep up with us."

Austin nods and ran through the forest with the men, barely escaping the undead.

* * *

When they reached a good distance from the walkers, they stopped to catch their breaths.

"I-I think we lost'em." The older man huffs out. "Woo, ain't young as I use to be."

The younger man looked behind them to make sure. "Yeah, we're good." He sent a nod to the older male before looking down at the girl in his arms. "Hey, kid, you alright?"

Clementine winced from the throbbing pain in her arm. "I'm fine….just let us go."

Austin frowned at the girl then looked at the two men. "Look, all we need are some medical supplies then we'll be on our way. We need something to clean her wound, then we'll be gone." He watched as the two men glanced at one another, whether or not to believe him.

"You both are in bad shape." The man carrying Clementine said. The older man walked alongside him with Austin following.

"What're you two doing out here anyway?" The old man asks, looking at the two stunned. "Where are the people you're with?"

"Yeah, because there's no way you two survived out here on your own." The young man commented, shaking his head.

Austin looked up at him with a small scowl on his face. He hated it when people underestimate him. It gets annoying after a while. He knew it was an advantage nowadays, but it just made him feel…weak.

"I was with my friend before we got attacked." Clementine manages to mutter out, the pain in her arm becoming unbearable.

Austin nodded in agreement, "Yeah, believe it or not I've been on my own for a few weeks. I found Clementine onshore and I dragged her to the forest."

The young man looked down at the boy in awe. "You managed to drag her all by yourself?"

Austin shrugs. "She's not that heavy."

The brown-haired man then remembered Clementine's words. "Wait, who attacked you?" He asked. "I mean, did they say want they wanted? Were they looking for anyone?" Austin could tell the man was panicked about something.

Clementine shook her head. "They probably wanted the food we had. We were cooking some sort of weasel."

Austin looked at the girl being carried. "And I'm guessing that's when Christa went missing?" The girl nodded and Austin looked ahead. That was enough for him to know what happened before she fell in the water.

"They attacked you for a weasel?" The man asks in disbelief before shaking his head. "Damn, that's low. Sorry, we all lost folks. Well, anyway my name's Luke and this here is Pete." He motioned to the older male next to him. "What're your names?"

"I'm Austin." He greeted before looking at the wounded girl. "And that's Clementine."

The man smiled at the two. "Well, it's nice to meet ya both." He then looked down at Clementine. "Pete and I are going to take you back to our group, okay? We got a doctor with us and he'll look at those wounds you two have. You could look like you could use some-Oh shit!"

Luke stopped and dropped the girl after looking down at the bite on her arm.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Austin shouts, running over to Clementine to check on her.

Pete stared at Luke with a confused look. "What? What happened?" He asks, sounding angry that he just dropped her on the ground like that.

"S-She's been bit, man." Luke's voice was shaky as he paced around, gripping his hair. "Fuck, fuck! What are we going to do?"

Clementine started to whimper, obviously scared at the scene. "No! It was a dog!" She exclaimed.

Pete crossed his arms over his chest. "I didn't see no dog, Clementine."

"Come on, kid! We saw you with all those lurkers back there." Luke said while continuing to pace around.

Austin looked up at the old man sadly. "I had to kill it. She's telling the truth."

Luke came to an abrupt stop and sent a glare to the younger boy. "You what?!" He nearly yells, outraged at the thought of a dog being murdered. "A dog comes up and bites her and you kill it?!" Austin sent a glare up at him.

"The fuck did you want me to do?!" He shouts, clenching his fists. "Just let him take off her arm?!"

"What would you have done?" Pete asks, coming to the boy's aid.

Luke looked at the glares he was given and frowned. "I-I don't know." He says in a disappointed voice. "You just… you don't kill dogs."

"Just look at it! Please!" Clementine pleaded, gripping the front of Austin's shirt. The boy simply looked down at the girl's fist before looking back up at the two, his glare gone and being replaced with a pleading look.

"Oh right, and have you bite down on Pete's neck?" Luke scoffs.

Pete had an annoyed look on his face. "Why am I the one?" He asks.

"Because man, I don't know a dog bite, from a lurker bite, from a mosquito bite!" Luke exclaims while throwing his arms up in the air.

Austin rolled his eyes in annoyance while Pete looked down at her. Clementine met his gaze and made a face that looked like she was about to cry.

"Alright, let's see it." Pete sighs out, kneeling in front of the two.

Luke's eyes went wide in concern. "Hey man, watch yourself." He warns but Pete only ignored him. Both Clementine and Austin sent a glare at him. "Hey, don't look at me like that. I ain't the one who's bit here." He turned away from the two.

Pete rolled up Clementine's sleeve, which made the girl wince. "See."

"Is it as they say?" Luke asks, turning back around to face Pete.

"…I don't know. It could be a dog." He says, still examining the bite. "We'll take them back to Carlos and he can have a better look." He then looked at Austin. "He'll also fix up that scratch on your head for you, son."

"Are you sure?" Luke asked.

"Well, I'm sure that I ain't willing to leave an injured little boy and girl in the woods, when we have a doctor who could take a look at them." Pete said to Luke.

Luke looked at the ground for a second before scowling. "Nick ain't gonna like this, not after-"

It was Pete's turn to scowl at him. "You don't need to remind me of that, boy!" He snapped.

Luke's scowl dropped and he looked ashamed at himself. "Yessir. Sorry." Pete's scowl dropped as well and placed his hand on his shoulder, giving him a comfortable smile as well. He titled his head towards a cabin in the distance. As the two started to walk towards the cabin, Austin helped Clementine to her feet.

"How ya feeling?" He asks, sending her a small smile.

Clementine's face scrunched up in pain. "I-I'm….I…" Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she dropped, causing her to land on top of Austin, who was taken by surprise.

"Clementine!"

"Ah shit…"


	2. Episode One- Chapter Two: Sneaky

**Remember Me**

 **Disclaimer:** _I don't own Walking Dead or any of its characters, besides Austin. All rights go to Skybound, Telltale, and Robert Kirkman himself._

 **Chapter 2:** _Sneaky_

 **A/N:** _Another chapter to this wonderful story! Right now I'm in a writing mood so I'm currently working on the next chapters, yes CHAPTERS. So, yeah, there's that. I'm also planning on doing something special for The New Frontier sequel that involves OCs submitted by you guys. So, look out for that._

* * *

Austin winced when his wound started to sting from the rubbing alcohol. "Ah, shit!"

After Clementine passed out, Luke and Pete led them back to their cabin. They were met with criticism from two people from their group; a young man named Nick and a pregnant woman named Rebecca. They opted to leave them in the woods after seeing Clementine's bite. Rebecca even suggested to just shoot her on the spot. As for Austin, she either wanted him shot too or turn around and leave. Nick was a little less rough. He wanted them to just leave, not wanting to waste both bullets and medicine on them.

Thanks to Pete and Luke, they managed to talk through the two to at least get Austin bandaged up. As for Clementine, she was laying on the ground outside still unconscious, which made Austin pissed. He knew they wouldn't let her inside, especially with a bite on her arm. Yet she was in serious pain too. If they wait for too long it could get infected!

The doctor of the group, a Spanish man named Carlos, gave the boy a small scowl, "Very nice language you have."

Austin rolled his eyes. "Just get me fixed so my friend and I can leave."

"Don't worry," Luke smiles from his spot in the doorway, "We'll get your friend fixed up then you two can go."

Carlos gave Luke a stern look before placing a band aid over the boy's cut. "Your cut definitely wasn't fatal, but it wasn't minor either. There was an awful lot of blood from it. As for your hand, you patched it up pretty good. Nonetheless, you'll be okay."

"Thanks." Austin nodded at the doctor. Carlos simply looked down at him and walked out the room in a hurry. Luke took a step to the side to let the man through while having a confused look on his face. What's up with Carlos?

There was a small silence in the room besides the arguing of the group outside. Pete was trying to convince the others that Clementine was bit by a dog, but Rebecca and Nick weren't accepting the fact she was. Another man in the group, Alvin, Rebecca's husband, remained neutral in the debate.

Austin looked down at the floor from his spot on a stool, frowning. All he kept worrying about was Clementine. She was probably in a lot of pain right now or worse, dying. He couldn't do anything about it. He had no medical supplies to help treat the wound besides this group, but two of them want her dead. They were too stubborn to think about a young girl dying right in front of them! What if it was one of them?!

"Look, I know you're worried," Luke walked up to Austin, "But Nick and Rebecca…they're just looking out for the group. Rebecca has a baby coming so she's under a lot of stress right now. As for Nick…" He looked out the window and glanced at the blue eyed man. "…he lost someone important not too long ago."

Austin looks up and says, "We've all lost people. We're all under a lot of stress, but my friend is out there…dying and you guys aren't doing anything besides fight with each other. What if it was Nick out there, or Pete? Rebecca?"

Luke looked hurt by the boy's words. He couldn't imagine the type of stress the group would be going through if either one of them were bit, walker or not. He understood what he met, but he has to look out for the group. They're the only family he has left.

"Okay, I get it." Luke says, "But I gotta look after my group. They're…the only ones I got left."

Austin nods, "Looking after people is important and that's what I'm doing with Clementine."

Luke turned his gaze to the side, looking rather uneasy. "You said…you said you saved her, right? You dragged her ashore?"

"Yeah, I did." He nods. "Her and her friend got raided by bandits. Now I'm helping her look for her friend Christa."

Luke nods at him, a small smile on his face. "Well, that's awful nice of you." Austin avoided eye contact with the man which made Luke hang his head. It was clear the boy doesn't trust him, but he was at least being nice to him. Better him than Nick or Rebecca.

"If I recall," Luke says, eyes going wide. "You said you were on your own for a few weeks? What happened to your parents or the people you were with?"

Austin sat frozen not taking his eyes off the ground. Luke noticed the boy's reaction and opened his mouth to say something, but Austin held out his hand to stop him. It took him a minute before he spoke, his voice low.

"I never knew my Mom." He answers. "She, uh…died giving birth to me. Dad left for Barcelona a few years back after he read some book. I was supposed to go with him, but he gave some dumb excuse so he left me with one of his friends. I was with him ever since…this started. Mainly, it was just us: me and him. I thought he'd never leave me, he did so much for me. I was like a son to him. He taught me everything I needed to survive; building fires, hunting, shooting, all of that. Then just like that he was taken from me. Walkers got'em."

"So to answer your question: Just about what happens to everyone."

Luke frowned at him. He couldn't imagine someone his age growing up in a world like this. Just watching your loved ones die before your eyes…it's terrible.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear-"

 _BANG!_

"The hell?!" Luke exclaims before sprinting out the room.

Austin gasps, "Clementine!"

They ran outside to see Clementine fully awake and shaking in fear. Pete snatched Nick's rifle from his hands, glaring holes at him.

"Whoa, what the fuck?!" Luke yells, running over to Nick.

"You idiot!" Rebecca shouts, walking up to Nick with a pissed off look on her face. "Every lurker from 5 miles could've heard that!"

Nick glared back, "You're the one telling me to fuckin' shoot her!"

Austin ignored the bickering duo and ran to Clem's side. Her eyes were wide with fear as she clutched her still bleeding arm. He quickly placed his hands on her wounded arm and she suddenly stopped shaking. Her grunts stopped as well and she sighed, the boy's embrace making her feel so much better. She looked up, her copper eyes meeting his crystal blue ones, and smiled at him. Austin gave her a nod, smiling back.

"Clementine, you alright..?" Luke asks.

"I just need a doctor…" She says with Austin not leaving her side. "…and then we'll go. I don't want my arm to get infected."

Nick scoffed, "None of us wanna get infected. That's the point."

Luke shot him a quick scowl before smiling down at the two. "We got a doctor right here, okay. He'll have a look. Just ask Austin."

She turned her head to face Austin, looking for an answer. The boy nods while touching the Band-Aid on his head. It still stung, but at least it was fixed. Clementine shifted her gaze to Carlos who was walking out of the cabin.

"Now what the hell is wrong with you people?!" Luke returned his attention back to the group. "Okay, she's just scared!"

"We're all scared Luke!" Rebecca exclaims, face to face with the young man. "Don't act like we're the ones being irrational because we don't buy this bullshit story."

Nick butted in, "No way they survived out here on their own!"

Austin glared up at the two. Again, he hated being underestimated. He wasn't weak…but he wasn't strong either.

"Man, you really underestimate us, don't you?" He asks, keeping the glare he had on his face.

Nick turned to him, eyebrows knitted together. "A kid like you surviving here? On your own?" He scoffs. "I don't buy it."

"Me either." The pregnant woman spat, crossing her arms over her chest.

Before Austin could retort, Carlos walked through the group like Moses parted the Red Sea. His eyes landed on the two, a stern expression on his face as he examined them. He noticed they weren't armed with the exception of Austin's knife. His suspicions grew.

"Let me take a look." He instructed, holding out his hand. Clementine hesitated for a second but obliged. When she rolled up her sleeve and revealed the bite, the group's eyes went wide.

Alvin hissed, "Damn that must've hurt."

Carlos examined the bite carefully, hovering his hand over it. "Whatever it was, it got you good."

Nick glared at Clementine, then at Luke and walked up to him. "This isn't how we do things, man. When you're bit, you get put down. End of story! I'm not going through this again!" Austin looked up at him, remembering Luke's words.

Luke raised his hands in surrender, "No one's suggesting that."

"We could take the arm off." Pete suggested. Clem and Austin gasped while the others looked at him in shock. "I know that it worked for a cousin down in Ainsworth. We can try that."

Clementine was now in a panic. The sudden memory of Lee dying from blood loss replayed in her head. She couldn't believe they were even suggesting that! If it didn't work for Lee, it definitely wouldn't work for her.

"Whoa, are you crazy?!" Austin exclaims after noticing Clem's reaction. "That'll only make things worse!" The sudden thought of Clementine losing her arm made him sick to his stomach. "All of that blood…"

Rebecca shook her head, "Besides, we'll just be wasting more supplies that way…supplies that we need."

Nick nods in agreement, "Yeah, and besides, no one is going to volunteer to do that!"

"I would if it meant saving her life." Pete says, flashing Clementine an apologetic look.

Austin shook his head. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Look, we're just kids, we're not gonna hurt anyone. She needs her arm cleaned and stitched then we'll be on our way. Just do the right thing."

"The 'right thing' to do is just leave." Rebecca spat, her eyes narrowing even more at the two.

Pete, however, smiled at him. "Come on, she weighs as much as a sack of flour. We can take her if it comes to that." Austin sighed out in relief and squeezed Clem's shoulder.

"Who are they?" A quiet voice asks from the porch door. Clementine could only make out her red-rimmed glasses.

Carlos eyes went wide for a split second before turning towards the girl. "Sarah, what did I say? Stay inside." He ordered. The girl quickly nods and closed the door shut. He let out a small huff before returning to her bite.

"We don't mean to be any trouble." Clementine says innocently. Austin didn't know if she was faking the innocence or not. "I just want to stop the bleeding and then we're gone. You won't see us again. I promise."

Nick rolled his eyes at her. "Forget it. You won't get five feet."

Carlos dropped the girl's arm and stood up, all eyes on him. Luke looked at him nervously, shifting his feet back and forth. "So, is it a lurker bite?"

The doctor shrugged. "Hard to say. It could be anything. We just have to make sure. We'll lock her in the shed for the night and see what happens."

Rebecca's eyes went wide. "What?!"

"You can't be fuckin' serious," Austin spat, "she needs medicine! She needs stitches and bandages, not for you to just stick her in a goddamn box! What's wrong with you?!" He knew his mouth was reckless, but when it came to defending his friends, he couldn't help it.

Carlos looked at him, irritated. "So far, you aren't our concern."

"The girl's in bad shape, Carlos." Luke protested, stepping up to the doctor.

Alvin smiled. "We have all that stuff inside the cabin. We should probably get by wi-"

Rebecca rudely cut off her husband. "Alvin. Please!"

His eyes narrowed at the two kids. "But yeah, we can't do nothing." He quickly changed sides.

"I'm not wasting supplies on a lurker bite." Carlos says. "If it turns out that you are telling the truth, then I'll clean it and stitch it up for you in the morning." He then walked away from the two children without giving them time to say anything.

Austin glared. "Are you…"

"I'm sorry, but it's the best that you're going to get." Luke tried to reassure the two, but that only made them more worried.

Nick walked up to Pete and the old man handed him back his rifle. "Finger off the trigger, son."

The young, blue eyed man snatched it back. "I ain't your son!"

"Don't be like that, man." Luke quickly came to defend Pete. Nick looked over his shoulder at him, glaring.

Pete waved him off, "It's alright. Boy's got his mom's temper."

"Come on." Nick ignored Pete's remark and gestured Clementine to the shed.

"I'll be locked in with her." Austin pipes up, stepping in front of Nick. "I'm not letting her suffer in there…not by herself." Clementine smiled at him, thanking him with a nod. "If she does 'turn'…let me be the one to end it."

Nick rose his eyebrow at him. Was this kid being serious? He wasn't his problem though. At least he wasn't the one to get blood on his hands.

"Are you sure?" Alvin asks, ignoring the look his wife was giving him.

"Positive."

Luke smiled at him, "You're a good friend."

Nick led the two to the shed and when he opened the door, the strong smell of dust and old wood filled their nostrils. Clementine looked back at them but Nick gestured her inside with his rifle.

"It's a bite." She declares. "You'll see."

"Clem…" Austin says worriedly.

Luke gave the two an apologetic look before shutting the door. The shed was nearly dark with the only source of light being the one lightbulb hung from the ceiling. It wasn't just dark, but it was freezing in there too. For a shed there were barely any tools inside with the exception of an anchor, a tackle box, a rake, and a hammer.

"Great…" Austin huffs, throwing his arms in the air. "Just fuckin' great!"

Clementine looked at the boy with a scowl, "Austin! Swear…"

Said boy was about to retort but remembering their dilemma, he hung his head and sighed. Clementine was in pain. She needs help. He couldn't just stand here and do nothing. Clementine seemed to read his mind and looked around the shed, scanning her surroundings.

"We need to find a way out of here." She states, a determined look on her face. "We'll get the supplies and I'll stitch this up myself."

Austin shook his head angrily. "No. If anybody is gonna fix you up, it's me. I'm not letting a good friend leave me…not again."

Clementine stared at him for a moment before cracking a smile. She was fond of his protection over her as a friend. Almost nobody look out for their own these days. Austin was different…in a good way.

Austin mirrored her expression until walking over to the work bench behind her. On the bench was a tacklebox which, hopefully, contained something useful inside. He opened it and inside was a fishing line. He smirked and placed it on the bench.

"Well, we found what we're gonna se for stitches." He says while Clementine walked beside him. "All we need is a needle, something to clean it with, and a bandage." His face then dropped. "And I'm pretty damn sure they're in the house. Shit…"

Clem grunted, "Austin…look." Said boy looked behind him to see Clementine jumping as she tried to get a hammer on top of a shelf. "I think I got it…" She mumbles, her tongue sticking out as she reached for the tool. Her fingers barely grazed the handle before it slid further from her reach. "Ah, dang it…"

Austin smiled, finding the girl's efforts amusing. "I got it, Clem." He was a few inches taller than the girl, so hopefully it'll be easier for him. He leaped and the tip of his fingers gripped the rubber handle. He smirked and slid the hammer down the shelf which landed near Clementine's feet.

"Thanks." She said while picking up the hammer.

"Anytime." He replies before approaching the wall. Austin looked down and noticed a damaged part of the wall that was covered by a nailed piece of plank. "Look, this part of the wall's weak. Use your hammer to take the nails out then I'll escape and get you your supplies."

Clem gave him a look of disapproval. "Why do you have to go alone? I'm coming with you."

"No. You're in no shape to come with me." Austin says sternly, crossing his arms over his chest. "I want you to stay here where it's safe. If I get caught, they'll have to deal with me, not you. Worst case scenario is they make me leave."

"I'm coming with you." She declares while stepping forward towards the boy. "I don't want you taking the blame for me. This is all my fault, anyway. If I would've never followed Sam, we wouldn't be here and my arm wouldn't be like this. It's my fault you got hurt too. I'm sorry, Austin."

Austin stared at her in shock. Did she really think this was all her fault? Of course it wasn't, it wasn't any of their faults. He knew something was up with Sam when he first saw him. He should've known no dog was still tame after all these years in the apocalypse. Especially one whose owners were dead for who knows how long.

"None of this was your fault, Clem." Austin says while placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Don't blame yourself over something like this. If anything this was my fault. Sam was vicious and I didn't see that. I'm sorry." Before he knew it, he had pulled Clementine into a hug. Austin was surprised he even did that and so was Clementine. She didn't care, though. His hugs were…comforting. Comforting and warm.

They broke apart with Clementine smirking, "I'm still coming with you."

Before the boy could respond, she walked towards the plank and pried it away from the wall. Austin gave her a proud smile and kicked down the weak portion of the wall. The two smiled at one another before crawling out the shed.

* * *

"They have a doctor…so he must have stuff for stitches…" Clementine mutters as she stood up on her feet. Austin looked over his shoulder and nods at her, a comforting smile on his face. Clem could feel her face get hot.

Austin looked back at the house and said, "There has to be a way in. I doubt they leave the doors unlocked so we'll try a window." He spotted the nearest window in front of the cabin. "Bingo. We'll try that one."

"Okay." Clem nods. They went past the porch and tiptoed up the small flight of steps that led to the porch. Austin followed his instinct and crouched. Clementine mirrored him and peeked through the window.

"It makes me feel like a fucking idiot when we're not on the same page." Rebecca was scolding her husband with a dangerous glare on her face.

Austin's eyes went wide. "Oh shit." He whispers before backing away from the window. "Not this window. Let's try a different one."

"We ARE on the same page." Alvin argues.

"Clem, come on." Austin calls out but Clementine remained still, watching the scene in front of her. "Clem?"

Rebecca shook her head, "Not out there, we weren't! Not about those two kids! I saw you get soft!"

When Austin tried to reach out and touch her, she winced and grasped her wounded arm. Austin's eyes went wide, believing he hurt the girl himself. He frowned and looked away as they continued to eavesdrop.

"What do you want me to do, Bec? Put a bullet in them?" Alvin asks, his voice rising.

"I want you to think about our Family FIRST." She spat.

Alvin sat on the edge of the bed, avoiding eye contact with his wife. "It's all I think about." He replies before hanging his head. "So don't give me any shit."

There was a short silence before Rebecca scoffs, "I need some air." She storms out of the room, leaving Alvin in his thoughts. The grown man sighs and rubbed his temple.

"Okay, Clem, they're done." Austin says while turning his back the other direction. "Let's find a way-" Before he could finish, Clementine knocked on the window. "Clem?! What the fuck are you doing?!" He whispers angrily. "Do you want us to get caught?!"

Clem gave him a reassuring look. "I know what I'm doing. Trust me."

The window slid open and Alvin stuck his head out looking as shocked as Austin. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Clementine's eyes narrowed at him. "You left me in the shed." She hissed, her voice low. Austin nodded in agreement from bedside her.

"Because you got bit." Alvin states.

Clementine's face dropped before saying, "Will you please help me…? I need to fix my arm."

Alvin's eyes went wide again. "Are you out of your mind? Even if you ain't bitten by some lurker-which you probably are-you can't be here!"

Austin glared at the husband and was going to step in before Clementine put a hand on his chest, stopping him. "Clem! Let's just get out of here. Clearly they don't give a damn if you die. They don't care if some kid dies."

Alvin flinched from the boy's words. "I do give a damn, alright? It's just…it's not my call. We're a group."

"But you could help." Clementine says. "And if you don't, you really don't care."

Alvin shook his head, trying to get the girl's words out of his head. "I'm serious, you both need to get out of here."

"I saw when everyone was arguing—you wanted to help." Clementine says with a kind smile.

The soon-to-be father's eyes shifted to the side. "You didn't see anything." Austin noticed he was trying to sound tough but in reality, he sounded stupid. "Look—you gotta get out of here before my wife finds you two."

Clementine hung her head in defeat. There was no use in persuading him. These people were very stubborn, what was the point? She let out a small whimper, clutching her arm as the pain started to throb. Alvin noticed this and frowned but decided not to say anything.

Looking at Clementine, Austin's face became dark.

"It would be bad if she knew you were talking to us." He says in a low voice, eyebrow furrowed together. "I wouldn't have to tell her now, would I?"

Both Alvin and Clementine looked at him with their eyes wide. "Austin!" Clem gasps. "What're you…?"

"Motherfucker…" Alvin grumbles, knowing exactly where this was going.

"Hey, language." Clementine snaps, glaring at the man before returning to Austin. "Austin, what're you doing?" She was never fond of blackmailing someone. She never did it herself, neither her nor Lee. In a way, it was hurting people. So she never expected Austin do something like this.

"I'm doing what's right." He says, giving her an apologetic look.

Alvin looked at the two kids before his scowl was gone. "Oh, I see what's happen'." He says with a chuckle. "You're just lookin' out for your friend. I get it. You obviously care about her…but I care about my group and I'm doing the right thing. We don't trust y'all."

"We don't trust you either, but we're helping you anyway." Austin says.

Alvin rose an eyebrow. "And how's that?"

"By not telling your wife that you're talking to us." He snaps.

The dark-skinned man bit the inside of his cheek in thought for a moment. "So…you're not with Carver?"

Clementine smiled with relief that Austin's words finally managed persuade him. "No. We're not with anyone. We don't even know who he is." Austin nods in agreement.

He sighed in relief. "Okay, I'll help y'all. What do you need?"

"Bandages, a needle, and something to clean her b-cut with." Austin lists out, stopping himself from saying it was a bite. "When we get that, I'll stitch her up myself." Clementine flashed him a worried look. "Don't worry, I know how to stitch." He reassures her after seeing the look on her face.

"Stitches? Damn, good luck with that." Alvin mumbles. "Okay, wait here."

The man exited the room, leaving the kids alone yet again.

"Were you gonna blackmail him?" Clementine asks, giving Austin a disappointed look.

The boy nods confidently. "Yeah, I was. Clem, he wasn't going to help us. Nobody in his group were going to, besides Pete. Hell, two of them even considered shooting you!" Clementine continued giving him a glare. He sighs, "Look, I'm sorry. You're my friend, the only friend I have right now. I…I don't want you to die, Clementine. I'm not losing another friend again."

Clementine dropped her glare and looked at him sadly. "Austin…" She whispers.

Said boy looked the other way. "I'm going to find a way in." He walked away from her, ignoring her calls for him to come back. She looked at the boy's back, feeling hurt. As of now, he was her only friend too. She didn't want to lose him either.

Alvin returned a minute later and held out his hand, which was holding a roll of bandages. "Here, I found you some bandages." She took it and put it in her back pocket. "And, uh…I got you a juicebox in case you're thirsty."

"Thank you." She says.

"Alvin, house meeting in two minutes." Carlos' voice said from behind the door.

The man's eyes went wide for a second. "Uh, yeah, okay." He responds before looking at the girl. "Now you gotta go."

Clementine nodded and walked away, hearing the window shut behind her. Now all she had to do was get a needle, Peroxide, and find Austin. "Austin…?" She called out to the boy but got no response. "Austin…where are you?"

She walked around the corner of the cabin and saw a plank laying on the ground. Behind it was a hole that led beneath the cabin. She crawled through the hole and underneath the cabin until coming to a halt when a trap door was above her. She gave it a small push and it opened. With a grunt, she climbed in and was now inside the cabin.

She opened the door and entered the living room.

"Clem." Her worries were gone when she saw Austin leaning against the kitchen door. "Over here."

"Austin…" She had a giant smile on her face. "You're okay…"

He quickly shushed her and motioned her to listen. She could hear the group's voices from inside, arguing about whether to help the two kids or not. Of course, Rebecca and Nick weren't on their side, but Luke and Pete defended them. As for Alvin and Carlos, they remained neutral.

"…They could be. We don't know." Carlos says.

"They're connected to somebody." Nick claimed, "There's no way they're out here by themselves."

"The girl said she was with a friend and they got attacked." Pete said. "And the boy said he's been on his own for weeks."

"For weeks?" Nick says in disbelief. "And you actually believe him?"

Pete scowled at him. "Take a look at him, Nick. The kid looks like he's been through hell."

Nick scoffed but Luke cleared his throat to shut him up. "Whoever they're with, they'll probably come looking for them."

Austin had enough of the bickering group and stepped back from the door. "C'mon, Clem. Let's find those supplies."

"Yeah, okay." She stepped away from the door and followed him upstairs. They reached the top of the stairs and there was a door on the right side of the room and the left. Austin eyed the door to the left while Clementine eyed the one to the right.

Austin followed her gaze. "You get the door on the right, and I'll get the door on the left. Got it?"

She nods, "Yes. Be careful, okay?"

Austin smiled and rolled his eyes. "You always this worried?"

"Only to the people I care about." She replies, giving him a smirk. Austin chuckled while walking up to the door. As soon as he placed his hand on the doorknob, he heard a gasp come from behind him. He quickly turned around and saw the girl from earlier looking terrified at them. Clementine made a gesture for the girl to hush.

The girl put down her book, remaining calm. "You're not supposed to be here." She whispers while Clementine entered the room.

"Keep her busy." Austin whispers in Clem's ear. The girl nearly shivered from his hushed tone. "I'm going to look for supplies."

Clementine nodded and shut the door behind her. Austin hoped that the girl…what was her name again? Sarah? Well, he hoped Sarah wouldn't tell her father about them. Hopefully Clementine can talk Sarah into helping them…or at least keeping her mouth shut.

He opened the other door, revealing a clean bathroom. Austin smiled at himself. There has to be medical supplies in here. He opened the medicine cabinet and inside was a needle. He examined it closely before placing it in his pocket.

"It looked clean." He says to himself. "Damn, no peroxide though. Where the hell can it be?" He checked the closet and only found a bunch of towels and washcloths. "This'll be good to clean up any blood spilt." He says while stuffing a washcloth in his pocket.

When Austin was about to leave, he stopped himself from opening the door when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. At first, he figured it was Clementine looking for him. That is until he heard a voice that he knew too well.

"That man sometimes! I swear!" Rebecca's voice got louder as she approached the door.

"Shit!" Austin cursed before running in the bathtub and pulling the curtains shut. He squat down and looked between the curtains to see Rebecca open the door.

Her face was filled with distraught and she huffed. She went to the sink and splashed water on her face. "I just need to have this baby…Please just let this baby be okay and let it be his." Austin's eyes were wide like saucers, even when Rebecca had left the room.

He waited for a few seconds before emerging from the bathtub. At that time, Clementine opened the door and stuck her head out. "Austin." She calls out after seeing the shocked look on his face. "I heard Rebecca come in here. Everything okay?"

"Rebecca's baby…" He took in a deep breath. "…Rebecca's baby…might not be Alvin's."

Clementine eyes went wide from the shocking news. Rebecca was cheating on her husband?! Or at least was?! But who could she be cheating on him with? Luke? Nick? Carlos?

"What?" She asks in disbelief. "A-Are you sure?"

Austin quickly nods his head. "Yes! I heard her say it myself." He huffed, wiping his face with his hands. "Anyway, how'd it go with Sarah?"

The girl shrugged, a shocked look still on her face. "She helped us out. She gave me peroxide and…I kinda promised her I was her friend." Austin rose an eyebrow at the last sentence. That was weird, he thought, Sarah didn't even know Clem and already she considered her a friend. "She asked me about you too. She wondered if you were going to be her friend too."

"And what'd you say?" He asks.

"I said yes." She replies. Before Austin can say anything, she stopped him. "Look, she agreed to help us. I figured if I were her friend she'll help us out."

Austin made a confused face while opening the bathroom door. "Are you actually going to go through with being her friend?" The question took Clementine by surprise. She hadn't been thinking about that when Sarah asked her to be her friend. She just wanted the peroxide and leave. Yet, she seemed like a nice girl.

"It would be nice having another friend." She responds while following Austin down the stairs, carefully.

Austin glanced to the side. "Maybe you're right." He opened the door that led to the room where the trap door was.

"You okay?" She whispers to him, lifting the trap door open for them to climb down.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied as they headed back to the shed. It started to rain so they quickly ran to the shed, trying to stay as dry as possible. They crawled back inside and Austin sighed, taking out the needle and placing it on the workbench.

Clementine took out the peroxide, bandages, and the juicebox and placed it on the bench.

"I ain't gonna lie, Clem," He says, putting some thread through the eye of the needle. He tied it around the small opening and bit on the string. Clementine watched him from behind, feeling herself getting nervous.

"This is going to hurt like hell."


	3. Episode One- Chapter Three: Past Hurts

_**Remember Me**_

 _ **Disclaimer:** I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters besides my OCs. All rights go to Skybound, Telltale, and Robert Kirkman._

 _ **Author:** So, the newest season has inspired me to finally finish this story. It's sad to know the series is coming to an end and i love Clementine, but I'm also glad its the last one. Sooner or later, Clem's story was going to end. After A New Frontier, i actually lost interest a little in the series but now after playing the demo of The Final Season, i'm back on board. I hope to finish this story before the new season ends._

 _I've decided to skip doing A New Frontier for my next story and have it be during The Final Season. There are several reasons as to why i decided to skip A New Frontier: I wasn't a fan of it, little to no character development, and you can completely skip A New Frontier to understand The Final Season. I don't wanna go into too much detail since it contains spoilers. Anyways, i hope you guys are okay with this._

 ** _Chapter 3:_** _The Past Hurts_

* * *

"This is gonna hurt like hell."

Clementine took a deep breath as she rolled up her sleeve and set her arm down on the workbench. The thread, peroxide, bandages, and the juice box from Alvin was placed on the workbench as well.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" She asks in a low voice.

Austin nods his head confidently, "I've done this plenty of times. I'd even call myself an expert."

"You better be right about that." Clementine says, sounding unsure of his response.

Austin chuckles as he set the needle down and picked up the bottle of peroxide, "Okay, here comes the first hard part. Now, try to hold still."

Wasting no time, Austin poured a fair amount of peroxide onto the bite. Clementine yelled in pain as the liquid made contact with her wound. Tears were forming from the corner of her eyes from the sting the peroxide was giving her.

The sting was too much and she swat her arm blindly, knocking the bottle out of Austin's hand. The liquid spilled from the bottle almost like a stream as it fell into the cracks of the shed floor.

"Dammit." Austin mumbles, "We might've needed that in the future."

Clementine was too busy recovering from the sting to respond. Curiously, she looked closely at her cut to see the peroxide bubbling around the edges of her bite.

"Okay...okay." She then glanced over at the needle, "Now the fun part."

Picking up the needle, Austin took ahold of her wrist to keep it still in case she tried to retract like last time.

"This part isn't so bad." He admitted, flashing her a warm smile, "The first few stitches hurt, but you'll get used to it near the end."

Clementine nods, flinching as the cold steel of the needle poked her skin. When it fully poked through her skin, she cried out but stopped herself from screaming. As the thread enclosed some of the wound, she started to calm down. In fact, the rest of the process wasn't as bad.

"How did you learn to sew?" She suddenly asks, breaking the short silence between them.

Austin continued to look down at his stitching, "My Aunt taught me how whenever I came over to her house. Believe it or not, I actually enjoy it."

"Really?" Clementine laughed before flinching when the needle entered her skin again.

"Yeah. If my cousin was sick or grounded, she'd teach me how to sew to keep me entertained." He explains with a smile, "I thought it was only something girls do, but of course, she always proved me wrong. I remember this one time when me and my cousin accidentally broke one of her vases and she grounded us. She refused to teach me anymore sewing for a whole week."

Clementine laughed again, "And you were upset about that?"

"Of course!" Austin nods, "I was bored out of my mind that week but me and my cousin would always find a way to keep ourselves entertained for the time being."

"Sounds like you two were close." She commented, watching Austin continue to stitch her arm.

"We were practically brothers." He responds, "If one of us jumped off a bridge, the other would follow. We were inseparable, even in school. He used to get picked on a bunch so I'd stand up for him. I'll never forget the time I did that and we got beat up near the playground."

Austin then laughed at the memory but Clementine's eyes went wide in shock, "You got beat up?"

"Got my ass kicked." He continued to laugh, "I was all bark and no bite back then. Now, I bite more than I bark."

Clementine couldn't help but shake her head at him, a small smirk on her face,"What happened then?" She asks in interest.

"The next day, my Dad, Uncle and Aunt came to the school and raised hell." Austin replies, examining his stitching job, "Well, my Aunt did. My Dad and Uncle couldn't even get a word in when they were talking to the principal. You wanna know what my Uncle said to me during that? He said 'Austin, remember this if you ever meet a girl: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'."

Clementine remembered Omid telling something like that to her when Christa was having one of her "episodes" during her pregnancy. At first, she never understood what it meant until it finally dawned on her many months later.

"Your family sounds pretty interesting." She chuckles until she rose her eyebrow, "Do you have any idea where they might be now?

As expected, Austin shrugged, "No idea. I beat myself up over not looking for them, but my heart tells me they're okay."

"Why didn't you go looking for them?" Clementine asked before hissing in pain as the needle entered her skin awkwardly.

"Sorry." He apologizes in a low tone, "Anyway, it wasn't in Adam's plan. He only cared about my safety, what was best for me. Looking for them would've been too dangerous, especially in Atlanta."

Clementine nods, showing him much sympathy.

"Who was Adam, anyway? Was he family?"

Austin was silent for a moment. She noticed his narrowed eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but Austin cut her off, "He was family. Not by blood, but he was a very close friend. He was like my second Dad."

"So I'm guessing he was your Dad's friend? The one who taught you how to make a fire?" Clementine recalled back to when they first met near the shore.

He nods, "Yeah, but that wasn't the only thing he taught me. He taught me how to shoot, hunt, fish, bandage myself, even a few tricks whenever we meet a hostile group like bandits. I wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for him..."

"You were with him when all of this started?"

"Yeah...from the very beginning..."

* * *

 _"Hello? Hello? Jeff? Jeff can you-ugh, FUCK!"_

 _Austin jumped when the phone collided with the ground._

 _"Dammit. Phone lines are cut..."_

 _Peering around the corridor, Austin watched as Adam began to pace around his living room, biting his nails as the chaos from outside continued. Just a while ago, they heard people scream and police sirens wailing past their house followed by the sound of gunshots. Concerned, Adam locked the door, closed the blinds, and told him to stay in his room until he could figure out what was going on._

 _"Adam?" He asks quietly, walking up to the middle-aged man._

 _Adam was a well-toned, young man with unkempt blonde hair that was cut around his shoulders and a deep set of blue eyes. He usually looked unkempt like his hair, but, in his own words, he didn't give a damn how he looked. From what his friends had said about him, he was what they called a "Stud". Austin never understood what it meant, and Adam wanted it to keep it that way._

 _The young man turned his head around so quickly Austin thought he got whiplash, "Austin, what did I say? Stay in the room!" He scolded as he took ahold of his arm and guided him back in the room._

 _"No! I don't want to! There's...something outside in Miss Stevens' yard." The young child whimpered as the door opened, leading to the guest bedroom._

 _Adam looked at the boy in disbelief as he pointed at the window. "What are you on about, child? There ain't nothing outside…"_

 _The young man walked towards the window and looked outside, only to gasp as he witnessed the sight in front of him._

 _His next-door neighbor, Miss Stevens, was laid out on her backyard as stiff as a board, her white sleeping gown stained with her own blood. A part of her white picket fence was now painted a dark red that ended up turning black. There was a trail of the same dark red color leading from the glass doors all the way to the fence where she must've drawn her last breath. The doors were shattered as well, almost like someone had broken in. What made Adam lose his color was the fact that there was somebody kneeling over Miss Stevens' corpse, its hands digging through her ripped open stomach which exposed her insides. The figure then lifted up some of her small intestines and bit down on it like a piece of meat._

 _The sight made Adam sick to his stomach. Yet for some reason, he couldn't turn away from it. It was so bizarre yet so unreal. It looked human, but no human would ever just tear someone open with their own bare hands and feast on their flesh. Nobody would be that insane to do something like this._

 _It was like something out of a fucked up fairy tale._

 _"Jesus, fuck..."_

 _"It killed Miss Stevens!" Austin cries as he watched the person continue to feast on the elderly woman's body._

 _"Stay away from the windows and don't leave my sight!" Adam ordered, grabbing Austin's shoulders to look him in the eyes, "Do you understand?" The boy nods while he shut the blinds, "Good. Let's go back in the living room and stay there for a while..."_

 _"What if those...monsters get inside?" Austin asks, nibbling on his thumbnail._

 _Adam placed a hand on his shoulder, comforting the child. Whenever Austin bit on his thumbnail, it was a sign of him being nervous or anxious. He's been doing that ever since he was a baby, Adam thought with a small chuckle._

 _Though he didn't show it, Adam himself was nervous. He was one who never liked to show his weakness, especially in front of others close to him. Only when he does, its if things were far beyond his control._

 _"Then we'll stop them, okay, Austin?" Adam smirked which the boy returned._

 _"SOMEBODY HELP! PLEASE! OH GOD!"_

 _They heard someone screaming from the front door as they began to pound on the door._

 _Austin gasped and Adam hurried to the door and looked outside from the peephole. There was a woman with blood on her clothes, looking pale and out of breath as she kept banging on the door. Her face was drenched with her own sweat and her eyes were so wide that it looked like dinner plates._

 _"What's going on?!" Austin asks from the corner of the room, looking spooked from the screaming._

 _"THEY'RE COMING! PLEASE!"_

 _Austin ran up to Adam and tugged on his arm, "We gotta help her!" He cried out._

" _GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME! OPEN UP! PLEASE! I DON'T WANNA DIE!" Her pounding on the door increased so much that Austin feared she'd bring it out of its hinges._

" _Adam!" Austin yelled, covering his ears to stop all the screaming and banging._

 _The man darted his eyes between the door and the small boy, who looked like he was on the brink of tears._

 _Adam grumbled, "Shit..."_

 _He opened the door and the woman ran inside with no hesitation. Just before Adam could fully shut the door, one of the people chasing her was in the doorway, snarling as it clamped its teeth near the man's nose. The smell they were emitting nearly made him vomit. Its eyes were cloudy, showing no signs of life. It reminded him of a demon. Or a ghoul. Almost like it came straight out of a Stephen King novel._

 _Wait…that person…he recognized him!_ _It was Tommy Burgan from across the street. He could tell by the scar he had across his cheek from a motorcycle accident a few weeks back. He also wore the same necklace everyday, the same necklace his father gave him before he passed._

 _The necklace had a symbol he never understood. When asking Tommy about it, he said it was a symbol for life in Celtic culture. Tommy was a proud Irishmen, as was his Dad, so that answer didn't surprise him. He said it was called The Spiral of Life, and it was something his family cherished for years. Tommy was a family man, but was always a religious man as well.. He was one of those people who put God over his own family, something Adam thought was ridiculous._

 _The holy, religious man he once knew as Tommy was now trying to eat his face off. What the hell happened to you, Tommy? Adam thought to himself._

 _With enough force, he was able to knock most of Tommy back, but the being once known as Tommy leaned forward, his arm and head stuck in between the doorway and the door. Adam pushed against the door, hearing it crack under the weight of both Adam and Tommy against it from opposite sides._

 _Then the woman ran up to Tommy and repeatedly brought down a lamp down on his head. Both Adam and Austin looked at her in shock as she kept beating him, blood pouring out of his skull and onto the lamp and doorway, painting it a nice dark red. Tommy refused to die, however, and kept reaching for her despite his head nearly being caved in._

 _Just when The Woman was gonna bring down the lamp again, Tommy managed to take hold of her arm and pull himself forward so he can sink his teeth into her arm. The woman screamed as she tried to pull away and Austin cried out in horror._

 _Adam shook his head and quickly kicked Tommy in his arm while still pushing against the door. Tommy's arm was bent in a horrid angle, his bone sticking out his arm but he never made a sound beside snarling. Luckily, the woman escaped his hold and stood a few feet away from the door._

" _I'm sorry about this, Tommy." Adam sighed as he quickly opened the door._

 _Tommy fell on the floor face first. Before he could get up, Adam jumped and stomped his foot onto his head. Tommy's head crushed like a grape._

 _The woman covered her mouth and Austin felt his stomach churn. Before he knew it, he vomited on the rug, leaving a puddle of what resembled kerneled milk on the floor._

 _Adam, using his foot, slid Tommy's body out from his house and shut the door before locking it. He began to pant from what transpired. That wasn't Tommy he just killed, was it? No, it couldn't be. He looked…dead before he even killed it._

 _"Are you okay?" Adam asks the woman, who was curled up on the couch._

 _She was still shaken up, but managed to give Adam an answer, "Y-yeah…T-thanks."_

 _Austin walked up to her, "You're not hurt, are you? We have a first-aid kit here if you need one."_

 _"Oh? You do?" Her eyes seemed to light up at the mention of the kit. "Thank God. One of those pricks b-bit me while I was running here." She hissed in pain, pulling down her collar to reveal a purple and red bite mark on the top of her shoulder._

 _Adam examined the bite for a quick second before glancing at the small child, "Austin, fetch me the First-Aid Kit in the bathroom. Second shelf."_

 _"On it." The boy nods._

 _When the boy was gone, Adam returned to checking on the woman, "What's your name?"_

 _"Zoey."_

 _"Okay, Zoey, you mind telling me what happened?"_

 _Zoey sighed out in exhaustion, "Well, I was coming back from North Carolina after my cousin's party when those...monsters started to attack. I had to get home first to check on my family. When I got there those fucking...things got to them first. My husband, my dog, Oh God, even my kids. They were eating them like it was nothing! Just...so much blood."_

 _Adam stared at her in horror. Whatever those things were outside, they weren't people anymore. That explains the stench, the foggy eyes, and the very pale skin. Not to mention the craving for human flesh._

 _"I got it!" Austin exclaims as he hands Adam the Kit. The man began to clean the bite with some rubbing alcohol before bandaging her up. "Are you feeling okay?"_

 _"I'm fine, hun. Thank you." She smirks until looking back up at Adam, "You guys have a phone anywhere? I have to make sure some of my friends are okay."_

 _Unfortunately, Adam shook his head, "Afraid not. Phone lines are cut."_

 _"But what about Dad?" Austin tugged at the sleeve of his shirt. "What if he's in trouble?"_

 _"There's nothing I can do, Austin." Adam sighs out in defeat, "I'm sure your Dad will find a way to keep in touch with us. I was able to keep in touch with Shane for a second but his line went dead too."_

 _Austin knitted his eyebrows together, "I don't care about Shane! I need to know how my Dad is!"_

 _"And like I said: There's nothing I can do." Adam repeated, crouching down to meet Austin's eye level, "I'm just as worried about your Dad as you are and I'm sure he feels the same but right now we have to focus on each other. Your Dad is a smart guy. He can figure out what to do. And when he does, we'll be ready for him."_

 _Austin never returned eye-contact, but nods._

 _"You promise?" He asks._

 _Adam bit the inside of his cheek but nods anyway, "Of course. Now, go put some clothes in a bag in case things go downhill, alright? If things continue like this, we can't stay here for too long."_

 _The boy did a salute and ran back in the guest room to collect his things._

 _"Would've fooled me." Zoey laughed._

 _Adam rose his eyebrow, "Huh?"_

 _"You're not his Dad, but you would've fooled me if you didn't say anything." She explains, "Where is his dad anyway?"_

 _"Barcelona." Adam replies._

 _Zoey's eyes went wide, "Spain? Holy shit. And you expect to hear anything from him?"_

 _Adam never made eye contact with the woman. Instead, he grabbed a towel from the kitchen and pressed it against Austin's vomit on the floor. It was a awkward minute of silence, according to Zoey._

" _No." Adam finally spoke up and shakes his head much to Zoey's surprise, "But for the boy, then yeah."_

 _"Why?"_

 _Adam made his way to the remains of Tommy's head. In the small of pile of brain and skull, Adam noticed something silver hidden in between some skull and brain. Taking a closer look, he was able to find out what it was._

 _It was pieces of Tommy's Spiral of Life necklace. He must've broken it when he stomped on his head. The chain was split in two and the symbol was broken into 3 small pieces. Hopefully Tommy had the heart to forgive him, wherever he was._

 _"False hope is the best thing I can give him right now."_

* * *

"That's what happened, pretty much." Austin finishes his story as he began to wrap the bandages around Clem's now finished arm.

"Sounds like your first day was...peaceful to say the least." Clementine joked, rubbing her hand along the bandages around her arm. "I watched my babysitter get bit by a walker the first day it happened. Then get her head smashed in with a hammer by Lee."

"Lee was the guy who found you?" He asked, which made Clem nod in confirmation. Then, Austin made a face at her, "You make it seem like that was nothing."

She shrugs, "It was something, but it wasn't the worst I've seen by now."

"And this Lee guy, who was he to you?" Austin asks as Clementine took a few sips from her apple juice box.

"My guardian for a while until..." She glanced off to the side, the memory of her shooting him to prevent him from turning replaying in her head. Even to this day that memory still haunts her. It might even haunt her for the rest of her life.

Austin leaned against the workbench, looking down at the ground, "I guess we both keep losing the ones we loved...right?"

Before Clem could reply, Austin gasped as he felt something grab onto his ankle. Looking down, he noticed a walker hand grabbing his ankle and held onto the workbench for support. The walker came through the small hole in the shed where they had escaped and was now crawling closer to him.

Clementine yelled out in shock.

"Oh shit!" Austin exclaims as he lost his support from the workbench and collapsed on the floor.

Clementine ran up to the undead monster and rose her hammer over her head. She brought it down onto the walker's skull, the back of the hammer being stuck in its skull as she tried to bring it back over her head.

Still, it wasn't dead yet.

The walker had let go of Austin and turned its attention to Clem. Snarling, the walker had its grip on the girl's pant leg, its teeth inches away from her calf. Clem was trying her best to shake her leg free all the while trying to free her hammer.

Austin, now recovered and able to find his knife, kicked the walker in its head, making it turn on its back. The walker lifted its head before the knife struck in between its eyes, killing it for good.

The shed door was pushed open and the group was met with a sight they'd never thought they'd see; Two kids, blood splattered on their face and clothes, standing over a walker with a knife plunged in its head.

"Holy shit!" Luke exclaims with wide eyes.

"What the...?" Alvin mutters in disbelief.

Austin reclaimed his knife from the walker's temple and wiped it clean on his pants. Clementine, meanwhile, reclaimed her hammer and clutched it in her hand as she faced the group with a dangerous glare.

"How the hell'd it get in here...?" Nick questioned.

"Little kids is tough as nails." Pete observed.

"You all right...?" Carlos asked.

Clementine glared harder at the group, "I am still. NOT. Bitten. I never was. And you left me out here to die."

Luke and the others looked away for a brief moment, looking guilty about the whole situation. Well, they _should_ feel guilty at least.

"Wait," Luke looked at Clem's arm, "You patched yourself up...?" He asks in disbelief.

Nick narrowed his eyes at the two and took a step forward, "Where the hell did you get that stuff?!"

Rebecca glared at the two, "Did they _steal_ from us?" She questioned.

"This doesn't change a thing." Pete quickly took their side, "They haven't done anything to us."

"Says the man NOT carrying a baby." Rebecca countered.

Austin rolled his eyes in annoyance. Rebecca must've taken notice of this and folded her arms over her chest, glaring harder at the boy. He didn't know if she tried to look intimidating or not, but if she did, she was failing.

"You left us no choice." Austin said while crossing his arms over his chest, mimicking the pregnant woman.

"You could have just left." Rebecca spat.

Pete sighed, "Relax, Rebecca."

Carlos sighed as well, "Bring her in and I'll take a look at her arm." He ordered before turning his back and walking towards the cabin.

The others followed suit with Luke being the only one staying behind. Clem and Austin shared a look with each other until Austin motioned for Clem to lead the way. Clutching her arm, she started to walk towards before being stopped by Luke, who looked at the two with guilt written on his face.

"Y'all hungry...?" He asked.

Clementine stopped and refused to make eye contact with him. Austin, on the other hand, glared at Luke for a moment. Luke unfolded his arms and looked down at the ground in a mixture of guilt and regret as the two kids walked back towards the cabin.

* * *

Back in the cabin, as Carlos was "fixing" Clem's arm, Austin took a good look around the kitchen. To him, it reminded him of a default kitchen you see on those generic TV shows. You know, the ones that have no color or anything that makes it seem stylish.

Then again, it's not like that matters anymore.

No bowls or any cutlery were lying around and the table looked clean, so these people must still value cleanliness. Nothing was on the kitchen island, besides Carlos's medical supplies, and the sink area was empty.

Since there was no running water, they filled up the sink with water from, what Austin guessed, a well or the nearby river from what he's heard from the group.

Luke stood next to him, watching Clementine nervously while pacing back and forth as the doctor worked on her. Nick was near the doorway, biting his thumb nail, looking at Clementine. Occasionally, he'd also look down at the rifle on the table in case any of them made a move.

It was weird, Austin thought, that those two looked more nervous than he did.

"This might hurt a little." Carlos warned the girl.

Clementine hissed in pain and flinched, "Ow!"

Luke stopped pacing and looked at the doctor, "How's she look?"

"The boy's suturing skills need some work, but otherwise, I'd say she should be fine." Carlos replies, glancing at Austin when he mentioned him.

Clementine looked back at him with a scowl on her face, "I thought you said you were an expert at this?"

Austin laughed and shrugged his shoulders, "Never said it was going to be perfect."

Despite being a kid, Carlos had to admit, the boy's stitching would give some doctors a run for their money. That was a skill to come in handy nowadays. The fishing line was a good substitute for thread and the wound itself was cleaned for the most part. The stitch pattern was off though. It looked like he started to swerve a bit after the first few stitches.

Luke walked up to the doctor, a smile on his face, "So it wasn't a lurker bite?"

Carlos shook his head, "If it was the fever would've already set in and her temperature would be through the roof."

That was enough for Nick. Wasting no time, he stormed out of the kitchen, walking past an annoyed Luke, who glared at him as he walked out. Nick nearly shoved Austin out the way, but the boy managed to stay on both feet as Luke followed Nick, possibly to calm him down.

Austin shook his head before walking up to Clementine, who was sitting on a stool, examining her new bandaged arm.

"I like it." Austin nodded, taking a seat in the empty stool next to her.

"Hmm?" Clementine hummed, turning her head to look at him.

"I like it." He repeated, smirking at her, "You're gonna have a badass scar." He then held up his bandaged hand, "But mine's gonna be stupid. It won't be as cool as yours."

Clementine smiled at him, blushing, "Are you trying to make me feel better?"

"Maybe. Did it work?" Austin chuckled.

"A little." Clementine responds, a small smirk curving her lips.

She forgot what Omid had told her a while ago. Something about boys and girls saying stuff to each other to make the other one feel…special. She remembered overhearing Christa make fun of Omid for doing it despite them being together already.

Whatever it was called, she had a feeling Austin was doing just that.

Carlos glanced back at the two, scowling at the two of them dangerously.

"I wish you wouldn't have done what you did." He grumbles, startling the two.

Clementine and Austin shared glances with each other.

"She was hurt and you weren't helping." Austin replies, scowling back at the doctor.

Carlos began to wash his hands in the sink, "Because we considered you a threat. Which you were. Maybe you still are."

Austin couldn't help but feel somewhat proud of being called a threat. It was a lot better than being called harmless, which he wasn't.

Clementine shook her head, "No. I'm not."

"We put you in that shed out of concern for the safety of our loved ones." Carlos's voice rose as he spoke like an parent about to punish their child, "And then you escaped and persuaded my daughter to steal from us."

Clementine grew quiet, knowing everything the doctor said was true. She _did_ persuade Sarah to take from her father. That she couldn't deny.

"If you wanna pull the concern card, I can do that too." Austin spoke up confidently, "We only escaped because I was concerned about my friend. And we didn't persuade your daughter, she offered us help…"

Carlos turned around so quickly that it was like a blur. He glared daggers at boy, who looked up at him with his eyebrows risen.

"Don't you dare accuse Sarah of breaking the rules!" He growls.

His eyes trailed down to the boy's side. His hand was gripping the handle of his survival knife, which was sheathed in its holster. Clementine looked at the boy worriedly.

The doctor calmed himself down, not wanting to escalate things any further.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt," the doctor sighs, "but there are a few things you need to know about my daughter."

Austin let go of his grip on his knife and Clementine nodded at the doctor, still looking at him nervously, "Okay."

Carlos turned to look at them, "She isn't like you. You may not get that initially, but once you're around her for a while you'll understand. If she knew how bad the world is…what it's really like out there…she would…" He then looked out the window and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, "cease to function."

The two looked at each other, both now understanding what he meant. Sarah was sheltered ever since the world went to shit. Now it started to make sense why he always kept her in the house and why she never left her room.

In their opinion, it was a bold choice to make. Going this long in the apocalypse and not knowing about the walkers outside? That's insane! Surely she had to know, at least, what the fuck is happening to people.

"She's my little girl." The doctor continued, "She's all I have left and I would ask that you stay away from her."

Austin couldn't tell if this was a threat or just an ultimatum. Judging by Carlos's tone, he assumed that it was a simple threat.

"You don't have to threaten us." Clementine replies.

Carlos was silent for a minute before saying, "Rebecca was worried you might be working with someone else. That your being here was no accident. I guess we'll find out, but one thing I know for sure—you are not to be trusted."

He began to walk away from the duo before coming to a halt in the doorway. Looking back at the two, he gave them one last warning, "Stay away from my daughter."

Just as Carlos exited the kitchen, Luke walked in, carrying two bowls in his hands. He looked surprised by the doctor's exit, but shook it off when he glanced at Austin and Clementine, a smile on his face.

"Hey, Uh…" Austin and Clementine looked at the young man, "I got some food, if y'all are hungry."

Despite Carlos's words echoing in her head, Clementine couldn't help but smile at the opportunity of eating again. She hasn't eaten anything good the last few days.

* * *

Luke placed the bowls down on the dinner table, which was covered with a decorative cloth that resembled something straight from an old folks home. On the table were several small candies that lit up the room like any normal lamp would.

Austin and Clementine sat next to each other, happily eating the bowl of oatmeal. It wasn't strawberries and cream, Clementine thought, but it was better than eating nothing at all.

Watching the two eat, Luke picked up on how Clementine was much slower eating than Austin was. Seriously, it looked like the boy didn't eat for days and was just shoveling the food in his mouth, letting some drip down onto the table.

"Easy there, tiger." Luke laughed, "There's plenty to go around."

Austin stopped shoveling the food in his mouth and swallowed it.

"Sorry about that." He apologizes, earning a giggle from Clementine, "I haven't eaten anything like this in forever."

"Me too." Clementine nods in agreement, her mouth full of oatmeal.

Austin chuckled as he set his spoon down, "Try eating nothing but berries for the last few weeks."

That was his diet for a while before he met Clementine. Thanks to his boy scout experience and Adam's survival advice, Austin was able to tell which berries were good to eat and which to stay away from. Though, one time, he got too reckless and his stomach got the better of him. When he found a bunch of berries on a bush, he didn't hesitate to eat a few.

Then he realized he ate an Evergreen Berry, one of the most poisonous berries in the United States. Luckily, he stopped himself from eating more and threw them back up by sticking his finger down his throat.

Ever since then, he stayed clear of berries for a few days.

Clementine smiled at him, "I haven't had berries in a long time. Did you eat any blueberries?"

"Of course, I did." Austin nods, "They're my favorite berry."

"Mine too."

The two of them smiled at each other for, what seemed to be, the longest until Austin's eyes went wide and he quickly looked away. Clementine blushed and turned the other way, a shy smile curving her lips.

"Uh...There's a few berry bushes not too far from here we were planning to pick." Luke says, breaking the awkward silence while looking at Austin with a grin on his face, "Maybe you can tell us if they're dangerous or not?"

"I can do that." The boy nods.

After that exchange, the three sat in a short silence with Luke watching them eat their oatmeal again. He felt like asking them about their life, but he didn't want to make things awkward. Hell, he was nervous that he'd trigger them if he asked about their past. It wasn't any of his business to know. Also, it's not like it mattered anymore. They were alone until they found each other and ran into him and Pete in the woods. That's it, right?

Yet, he was too curious and interested to just ignore it.

"So..."

Before Luke finished, the door swung open and everyone turned to see who it was. Nick was standing in the doorway, looking over at the table directly at Clementine and Austin. To say those two weren't happy to see him was an understatement. The glares they were giving him pretty much summed up how they felt about him being in the room.

They soon ignored the blue-eyed man and continued eating their food. Nick, however, kept his eyes trained on them and walked towards them.

"Hey, look." Nick started awkwardly, scratching the back of his head, "Um, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for...well...being a dick out there. I got kinda aggro and that was definitely not cool."

Clementine averted her eyes at Austin, who looked back. They weren't sure if the man meant what he was saying. He could be just playing friendly until he decided to off them when no one was looking. Both of them had experience with people who pretended to be friendly just for them to betray them. It was the easiest trick in the book.

Luke, noticing the looks they gave each other, came to Nick defense, "Nick's been known to go off every once in a while. Don't hold it against him."

"I guess we all have our moments." Nick shrugs.

Luke flashed him a smirk, "You definitely had one out there."

Clementine continued to eat her oatmeal until sighing out in defeat. She knew Nick meant well. He was just looking after his group. She understood that. In fact, he reminded her of someone from her old group named Kenny. He was very stubborn, but everything he did was to look out for her group. Sure, he and Lee fought a few times, but they both had the same goal of keeping each other alive.

That's what Nick was trying to do.

"You were just protecting your friends. I get it." Clementine said with the shrug of her shoulders. "Right, Austin?"

Austin bit the bottom of his lip. He agreed with what Clem said, but then again, he tried to blow her head off when they first met. That and he wanted to them to leave without checking on her arm.

"Right." He nods in agreement, "But that doesn't mean I'm not mad at you still."

Nick rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, you have every right to be. I don't blame you. I just...didn't mean to be so harsh. We've had a bad experience once."

Luke looked up at him with a frown, as well as Clementine.

"We've all had bad experiences." She nods in agreement.

Nick sat down in the empty seat next to her on her right. Austin could tell he looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"Nick lost his Mom. We took care of someone who'd got bit." Luke explains.

Nick furrowed his eyebrows together, "It was my fault...!" He exclaims to himself, clenching his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.

"It was no one's fault." Luke said sternly, "We thought we could control it, but...we couldn't. And then she turned and his mom was standing right there and she got attacked...there was nothing we could do about it."

"Hopefully you'll understand." Nick mumbles while standing up.

We do, Austin thought to himself.

"Bad things happen to everyone." Austin said, giving Nick a nod in understanding.

Nick flashed them a smile before walking out of the room, leaving them alone with Luke yet again.

"So, since you two are pretty much on your own...what's your plan?" Luke asks.

Austin finished swallowing more of his oatmeal, "Well, we don't really have one right now. The whole dog bite thing and running into you threw us off balance."

Clementine nodded in agreement beside him.

"Well, you're welcome to stay here if you want, you can let yourself heal up and take some time to sort things out." Luke gave them a warm smile as he said that.

Clementine was delighted to hear that, but Austin wasn't so sure. It was a nice play, but there was still two people on his bad side: Rebecca and Carlos. Those two can make staying here feel like hell, especially Rebecca. Not only that, but this place was easy to find...for experts. A cabin in the woods? What's the reason for you to NOT raid this place?

It was an easy target for scavengers or another bad group to raid.

"Will the others be okay with this?" Clementine asked.

Luke smiled again, "They'll have to deal with it."

Austin couldn't help but smile.

The two continued eating their nearly finished oatmeal before Luke asked them something that Clementine dreaded to answer when they first met him.

"So... what happened to your parents...?" Luke questioned, his curiosity getting the best of him, "If you don't mind me asking. I already asked Austin about his so...I figured I'd ask you the same." Clementine gave him an uneasy look, "I mean, I assume what happened to them is what happened to just about everyone's parents. You're just so young...didn't think you could've made it on your own for so long, but maybe you did."

Clementine looked down at her bowl, the memories of Lee and the others flashing before her eyes. Just remembering them made it hurt. There was more bad than good moments she remembered the most. Lee killing her turned babysitter, Shawn getting eaten alive, the pharmacy, the dairy...there was so much.

"Clem, if you don't wanna talk about it, then don't." Austin placed a hand on her shoulder, trying his best to comfort her.

"It's okay." Clementine removed his hand from her shoulder before facing Luke, "Other people took care of me, if that's what you're asking."

"I was just curious on how you made it this far." Luke replies quite quickly.

"I just tried to stay with good people and not do anything dumb." Clementine explains so low that it nearly came out as a whisper. She hung her head so low that it almost made contact with the bowl.

Austin bit his lip before facing Luke, "Me too. I always did what I was told to do. Though, I regretted listening."

Luke look panicked for a second, "I-I'm sorry..."

Clementine ignored him and continued with her story, "My parents went on vacation and left me with a babysitter and they never came back. We went to Savannah to find them...but they were already dead."

Austin continued to face Luke, not batting an eye in Clem's direction. She knew she had his sympathy and she knew he went through the similar thing. He decided it was best, for now, for Clem to tell her story to Luke.

"Wow..." Luke was at a loss for words for a moment, "...well, I'm sorry to hear that."

"This man found me and took care of me. We met up with other survivors and we all tried to make it, but...it didn't work." Clementine continues, her eyes casting down back to her bowl before a small smile curved her lips, "His name was Lee. He taught me how to survive. He taught me how to shoot a gun."

Austin smirked at her. He found it amusing that the two of them were looked after someone who wasn't even in their own family, let alone their own parents. At first, Lee was just some stranger when he met Clementine and Adam was simply his Dad's friend when he met Austin. He's met him a couple of times beforehand, but they weren't as close as they were after everything hit.

Luke bit the bottom of his lip, "What, uh, happened to him...?"

Clementine sighed, "The same thing that happens to everyone. But he saved me, fist. Lots of times."

"Well, sounds like he was a real good guy." Luke says.

Clem smiled, "Yeah, he was."

Luke gave Clem a nod before glancing back at Austin, who just finished eating the rest of his oatmeal, "So, uh, this Adam fellow you mentioned, you said he looked after you, right?"

Guess it's my turn, Austin thought to himself.

He nods, "Yeah, but like what Clem said, others also looked after me. We were in a group for a while. Most of them were Adam's friends and some of their kids, and the others we found while traveling. We moved around a lot. We'd stay in one area for a few days before moving on to find another place."

"Sounds smart...and exhausting." Luke commented.

"It was, but it was Adam's plan." Austin nodded in agreement with the young man, "We stayed with them for a while until a larger group attacked us. We got separated from them. We just...ran. We ran for what seemed like miles. I wanted to go back and look for them, but Adam said it was too dangerous right now."

"Did you ever go back and look?" Clementine asked.

Austin nods, "We did, but when we got there, it looked like everyone didn't make it. I think some got captured, but I don't know. Ever since then, Adam was wary of staying with a group so it was just me and him. I haven't been with a group in... forever. It's actually kind of...weird."

Luke chuckled, "It can be like that sometimes. You just need to stumble on the right people. It's risky, but it'll all be worth it when you find the right people."

"Right." Was all Austin replied.

She didn't blame him for feeling that way. When Clementine first met with Lily and the others in the pharmacy, they were met with hostility thanks to her Dad. Then, there was the time when Lee told her about Vernon and how he pulled a gun on him when he first met him and his people. It was pretty dangerous meeting new people.

Then again, what Luke said was true too. You just had to stumble on the right people.

"Sorry to interrupt," Came Pete's voice from the doorway. The older man walked in, giving Luke a stern look, "but I'm out there standing watch and I can't help but notice this place is lit up like a goddamn beacon in the middle of the woods."

Luke nods, "Yeah, it's time to turn in anyways."

"Get your winks while you can 'cause we're goin' fishing at first light." Pete told them, "A couple of fresh brookies for dinner? Mm, wouldn't that be nice."

Luke stood up from his seat and walked out of the room with Pete following. Austin set his spoon in his empty bowl before also standing up from his seat. He grunted as he stretched and let out a small yawn.

"I'm tired. Thinking about taking a nap." He says directly to Clem, who was still eating her oatmeal, "Want me to wait for you or are you fine here by yourself?"

Clementine rose an eyebrow at him, "You make it seem like I can't handle myself."

"N-no, just trying to be a gentleman." Austin laughs nervously while rubbing the back of his neck.

She giggles, "I know. Go ahead, take a nap. You look like you could use some sleep."

"Tell me about it." He scoffs, "I haven't had a good rest since...y'know."

Before Clem could answer back, the door swung open which startled the two. In the doorway was Rebecca, who looked pissed that they were still in the house. Austin glared at her while Clem simply ignored her, deciding it was best to not test her.

"Anyway," Austin turned to Clem, "Night, Clem."

She smiled, "Night, Austin."

With that, the boy left the room knowing that Rebecca was giving him a look behind his back. She thinks she's intimidating but she couldn't do a thing, Austin thought to himself while sitting down on one of the sofas.

He thought back to what Luke said earlier. Maybe he was right about that. Everyone here was on his good side, minus two people. Yet it was like what he said, it's a risk that you're gonna have to take. Maybe these are good people.

Hopefully that was true.

* * *

 _ **Author:** Well, a long chapter for you guys. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Thank you and please show some love! Plus Ultra!_


	4. Episode One- Chapter Four: In The Water

**_Remember Me_**

 ** _Disclaimer:_** _I don't own The Walking Dead or any of its characters besides the OCs used. All rights go to Skybound, Telltale, and Robert Kirkman._

 _ **Chapter 4:** In The Water_

 ** _Author:_** _Well, here's the newest chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it! Also, when The Final Season drops, I'll most likely be updating this story every other day. I'm trying to finish this as soon as possible so I can get started on the sequel based on The Final Season._

 _I'll also be publishing a prequel to this story where it focuses on Austin's journey before meeting Clementine. It'll be a one-shot, but it will be a LONG one-shot. Would you guys like to read that?_

* * *

 _Austin couldn't sleep that night. He kept on thinking about the monsters outside and Miss Stevens' body being ripped open. Not to mention the lady, Zoey, screaming for hel_ _p and Adam smashing that monster's head in with his boot wasn't helping either. For the first time in a long time, he was afraid to fall asleep not knowing if he was going t_ _o wake up the next day. What if the monsters get him?_

 _He could still hear the monsters groaning and snarling outside. One even walked past his window. Luckily, it was too stupid to realize he was inside. He wondered if all of them were like that: stupid…and slow._

" _You okay, kid?"_

 _Austin turned his head to the doorway and saw Adam peeking his head inside, his eyebrow risen._

" _Y-yeah." He replies quickly, clutching the blanket as gunshots were fired in the distance._

 _Adam huffed. The boy was scared as hell, he could tell._

" _Don't lie to me." Adam says, walking inside the room and sitting on the edge of the bed, "It's okay to be scared, Y'know? I'm sure everyone is scared right now."_

" _Are you scared?" Austin asks, staring the man right in his blue eyes._

 _Adam chuckled, "Actually, I kinda am. I've never seen stuff like this before. It reminds me of a horror movie."_

 _The two sat in silence, listening to the gunshots in the distance. As each round was fired, Austin felt himself start to shake._

" _Hey, Hey, Hey, calm down there, kid." Adam noticed him shaking and placed his hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry about that. As long as it's not affecting us, we don't have to worry about it."_

 _Austin nods his head while keeping his sight fixated on the blanket._

" _Will everything be okay when those soldiers come?" He asks innocently._

" _The National Guard?" Adam shrugged his shoulders, "I hope so. They should've been sending people out here by now though. Just…lay low for a bit, okay?"_

 _Before Austin could answer, something banged against the window, nearly shattering it. Both Adam and Austin flinched with Adam jumping back to his feet in an instant._

 _Outside the window was another monster. Just like Tommy, his eyes were cloudy and he started to snarl when he saw them inside. However, unlike Tommy, this person's skin was decaying with dead parts of it hanging off the bone._

" _Oh, Jesus…" Adam sighed out in relief before facing Austin, "Don't worry, kid, he can't get us inside. We're safe here…for now."_

 _He looked at the walker banging against the glass. Luckily, it wasn't doing too much damage and the window looked like it could hold its own for a while._

 _Then Adam noticed the look on Austin's young face. His eyes were wide and his jaw was slightly dropped._

" _What is it?"_

" _Behind you!"_

 _Adam turned to realize Zoey, the woman they helped yesterday, lunges at him, groaning as she tried to sink her teeth into his neck. Her eyes, like Tommy's and the creature outside, were cloudy and her skin turned pale. The bite mark on her shoulder turned into a dark red color, her veins visible through her pale shoulder._

 _Austin cried out as the two landed on the bed with Adam trying to push her off of him. She was using all her weight to get to him while swinging her arms in the air to grab him._

 _With one big shove, he managed to get "Zoey" off of him before facing Austin and yelling, "My knife! It's in the drawer!"_

 _Austin nods and was about to jump off the bed until the monster took ahold of Austin's ankle, making the boy fall to the floor and hitting his head on the wooden ground. He cried out in pain as his forehead started to sting._

" _Don't you fucking dare!" Adam growls, lifting the creature off the floor. He shoved it again, but with enough force to knock back into the window, where it shattered on impact._

 _The top half of "Zoey's" body was leaning outside the window as the other monster started to reach inside for the man._

" _Shit." He cussed._

" _Zoey" rose back up and fell down back in the house. She kept snarling as she rose to her feet, limping her way towards him again._

 _Adam pushed her, causing her to lose her balance for a moment. Acting quickly, he grabbed the nearest item in the room; one of Austin's action figures._

 _It was a large, red and green robot that resembled a "Transformer". It had a somewhat sharp edge on its shoulders and legs. It was, actually, one of Austin's favorite toys. He always saw him play with it when he was alone._

" _Zoey" got a good distance near him before Adam plunged the toy in her eyes socket, blood pouring out of the wound. Still, she groaned as Adam pushed the toy deeper in her eye. He removed the toy and swung it upside her head, knocking her off her feet._

 _Adam brought the toy down again. Then again. Then again. He kept on going until "Zoey" stopped moving. Her head was caved in and her teeth were scattered across the floor, along with some bone and some eye._

 _The young man panted, dropping the toy on the floor. He looked at the doorway to see Austin looking at him horrified while holding his knife in front of his chest. He started to shake again as well._

 _Adam stared back at the boy, looking disappointed at what he's done. The walker near the window snarled again, making Adam sigh and grab his knife from Austin's grasp. He approached the walker, unsheathed his survival knife, and plunged it on the top of its head._

 _The monster fell limp._

" _Zoey's" blood began to make a giant puddle around the room, which made Austin jump back when the trail of it stopped near his feet._

" _Austin…?" Adam called out, putting his knife back in its sheath._

" _Are…are they dead?" He asks quietly, biting his thumb nail._

 _Adam looked back at the two corpses and nods his head, "Yeah. Yeah, they're dead."_

 _Austin looked at Zoey's corpse, "How did that lady become one of them? S-she was fine yesterday."_

 _That was a question Adam wanted to ask himself. Zoey seemed fine yesterday. Hell, she didn't have a fever or anything like that. The only injury she had was the bite and…_

" _She said she was bit by one of them yesterday." Adam explains, "I might be wrong, but maybe if they hurt you, you become one of them."_

 _Austin's eyes went wide, "Y-you do?"_

" _I'm not sure, but we're not sticking around to find out." Adam said, looking out the broken window to see more of the monsters limping towards them, "We can't stay here for too long. I'm gonna board up this window, then pack whatever we need so we can go."_

" _But what about Dad?" Adam closed his eyes when Austin asked that, "What if he calls us and we're not home?"_

 _Adam kneels in front of the boy, "I have my cellphone, remember? He'll call us from there. Trust me, kid, your Dad is fine. He's a smart guy."_

" _O-okay." Austin nodded his head._

 _Adam smiled, "Alright. Now, let's start packing."_

 _Just when they were about to leave, another walker was near the window. Adam huffed in anger and sheathed his knife out. He stabbed the walker between its eyes._

* * *

Austin took out his knife from between the walker's eyes before placing it back in its sheath.

Pete and Clem watched in the distance, waiting for the young boy to return to them.

Like what Pete said last night, they were going fishing in the morning. So far, it was them and Nick with Luke and Alvin meeting them near the usual spot.

"You handle yourself pretty well there, son." Pete complimented Austin, who returned by their side, "You like to get your hands dirty?"

Austin shrugged as they began to walk, "I guess."

Pete glanced down at the sheathed knife, "Say, is that a Ka-Bar? How in the world did you find such a thing?"

The boy smiled proudly as he took out his knife, "This was my guardian's for a while before he gave it to me. He said it was a hand-me-down from his great grandfather. Let me tell you, it does the trick when I'm in a tight spot."

"Sure looks that way." Pete chuckled, "That thing can act like a wire cutter, a crate opener, and just about everything else. It's like a multi tool."

Clementine couldn't help but feel left out as the two began to talk about knives. Lee never taught her about the different kinds of guns or weapons that was safe to use. Yet, did that really matter? A gun is a gun. All that mattered was your survival.

"You two sound so stupid." She giggles, causing the younger boy to blush in embarrassment.

Pete smiled at the girl then glanced at the rifle in his hands, "You ever shot a rifle before?"

Austin started to laugh, thinking back at this one fond memory with Adam and their group.

"I did. Once." He laughed, "I was with my old group and one of the guys, Trevor, let me shoot one at a walker. I got knocked off my feet in front of everyone. It was so embarrassing."

Clementine couldn't help but chuckle. Just the thought of Austin being knocked on his butt made it humorous.

"Nick was about y'alls age when I first took him huntin'." Pete started, stepping over a broken piece of fence, "Came across this beautiful 13-point buck just standin' there on the ridgeline. The boy takes the rifle…lines up the shot just like I taught him…then I hear him start whinin'. He turns to me and he says "I can't do it. I can't shoot it, Uncle Pete. Please don't make me shoot it."

"Really?" Clementine stiffened a laugh, "No way."

Austin giggled, but felt sympathetic for the young man. When Adam first took him hunting, they hunted for anything they could find. His first target was a squirrel just munching away on some nuts on the ground. Even with the encouragement from his guardian, he couldn't go through with shooting it. It was just minding its own business, not doing harm to any of them.

Adam ended up shooting it.

"Hey!"

Pete narrowed his eyes when Nick caught up with them, looking at his Uncle with a glare on his face.

"Why didn't you wait?" He questioned his Uncle.

"You want us standin' around while you piss on a tree?" Pete then shook his head, "You know where the river is, boy." He turned around and started walking, "Anyway, so I go grab the gun out his hand before this big buck runs off when BANG! The gun fires. Boy nearly gut shot me."

Nick became livid, "What're you goin' and tellin' her this shit for?"

Pete turned around slowly, which made Clementine grow nervous, "Cause you almost blew her face off yesterday. Seems relevant. Tryin' to let her know it's nothin' personal with you."

"Why are you always giving me such a hard time?" Nick barked at him.

As the two began to bicker, Austin stood next to Clementine, noticing the nervous look she had on her face.

"Because you're always giving everyone else a hard time." Pete barked back.

"I apologized already. She accepted." Nick said.

Pete shrugged his shoulders, "Well, I didn't know that then."

"It's fine." Clementine sighed out before giving Nick a small smile, "He apologized."

The two ignored her and continued on with their argument.

 _This…_ , Austin thought to himself, _This is why I'm not a fan of groups._

Their argument ended when Nick walked past Pete, bumping his shoulder into him.

"Leavin' us again?" Pete scoffed.

"I know where the fuckin' river is!" Nick exclaims.

The three of them watched him leave, all frowning as he stormed off, not even looking back at them.

"I wouldn't worry too much about Nick." Austin reassured the old man with a smile, "He just needs to blow off some steam."

Pete glanced down at the ground, "Yeah, well, I don't blame him. I can over exaggerate things for him. Well, I guess sometimes you just gotta play a role…even if it means people you love hate you for it."

Clementine shook her head, "Nick doesn't hate you."

"Nick's father wasn't there much, and when he was, he was a piece of shit." Pete spat, picturing that bastard's face, "So, it was my duty to keep him in line. Raise him right. Meant I couldn't be just nice Uncle Pete."

Speaking of the devil, they heard Nick yell out, "Uncle Pete!"

The three quickly ran to the river and saw Nick, Luke, and Alvin looking over at the ground. When they caught up, Clementine's eyes went wide in shock at what was in front of them.

Bodies were scattered around the ground, blood pouring out of their bodies. Their skin had paled, meaning they've been dead for quite some time. Flies were even starting to fly around the corpses.

"Oh, God…"

Alvin covered his mouth to prevent himself from puking while Nick nearly dropped his rifle. Luke crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head at the sight. Who the hell could have done this? He wondered.

Austin shivered at the scene. This vaguely reminded him of when he and Adam found some of their group at their camp. Unlike this, there were more bodies last time.

Pete slowly made his way towards a body and gave it a poke with his rifle. Thankfully, it didn't move or even twitch.

"Fulla holes." Pete sighed out.

"Who do you think did this?" Clementine asked.

Luke shrugged his shoulders, "No clue, but it ain't good. We shouldn't stick around here too long. Let's just get our fish and be on our way."

Alvin nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Yeah, I ain't arguing on that."

"…Think about it. You're Carver, what do you do?" Nick looked at his friends, who all shared uneasy looks with each other.

Both Austin and Clementine turned to face the blue eyed man, a look of confusion on their faces.

"Who's Carver?" They both asked in unison.

The four adults looked down at the two, unable to respond to that. This made Austin shake his head in disappointment.

Pete quickly changed the subject, "Check those guys there." He pointed at the corpses to his right, "Luke and Alvin, you two go check if we got any fish left."

"You got it." Luke nods as he and Alvin walked to the fish traps in the river.

"And be careful." Pete warned to everyone, "Some Of then might still be movin'."

As the others walked away, Austin squatted down near one of the bodies, giving it a closer look. The first thing he noticed was the large bullet hole that was in the man's head. The blood had dried up and the boy was able to see the man's brain and parts of his skull from the inside.

What gave him the shivers again was the look of fear the man had frozen on his face right before he died. His jaw was dropped, almost as if he screamed right when he died.

"Hey, Austin." The boy glanced up to see Clem standing over him.

"Oh, hey, Clem." The boy greeted back as the girl squatted down next to him.

Clementine looked at the body and winced, "At least he didn't become a walker."

"I wouldn't be giving him any sympathy." The boy shrugged his shoulders, "We have no clue who he was or what he did before this. For all we know, he could've been a bandit."

"Right." Clementine then glanced over at Nick, who was taking a look at one of the corpses, "Who do you think that Carver guy is? The one Nick mentioned."

"I'm just as curious as you are." Austin narrowed his eyes at the men behind them, "By the way Nick mentioned him, he's someone who's on their bad side. I don't like it."

Clementine nodded in agreement, "Neither do I. You think we should ask them about him later?"

"Definitely." Austin said, "We're a part of their group now, so we should know who the hell that guy is."

Clementine couldn't help but smile at the boy. She really admired his determination, something she hasn't seen in somebody for a long time. It was actually refreshing.

"Did he have anything on him?" She wondered, pointing her finger at the corpse in front of them.

"Oh, I didn't even check. Hold on." Austin dug his hand in the man's pants pockets. There was nothing in the left pocket, but in the right pocket, he grabbed something small, "I got something!"

Clementine rose her eyebrow, "What is it?"

Austin opened his hand to reveal a single bullet, "Just a bullet. Nothing else, really." He handed the bullet to Clementine, "Here. You keep it. You probably need this more than I do."

"I don't even have a gun on me." Clementine mumbles, picturing the night that she ran from the scavengers who took Christa. She forgot her bag that night, the very same bag that had her gun in.

"Doesn't matter." Austin smiled, "You'll need this later. Trust me."

Clementine hesitated for a minute until finally deciding to take the bullet from him, "What about you?"

"Don't worry about me." He replies, "I'll be fine with my knife. It's pretty much all I need."

She giggled at him, "If you say so. See ya, Austin."

"Later, Clem."

After putting the bullet in her pocket, Clementine walked away from the boy and decided to look at the fish traps Luke and Alvin were examining.

The trap itself was made from thick steel in the shape of a cone, with chicken wire stretched around it. She never understood why it was shaped like that, but Christa had told her that it was to prevent the fish from swimming back out in the water.

A bunch of branches held the trap in the water, creating a bridge like structure across the stream from one end of land to the other. The trap was tied around the main branch using a strong rope to hold it in place.

Next to the trap was a empty cooler, which Alvin opened.

Luke began to untie the trap around the branch until he caught Clem staring, "Oh, hey, Clem. Wanna help us out?"

The girl nods, "Sure."

"Okay, just help me left this trap on the ground so we can see how many fish we caught." Luke grunted while untying the first knot.

"This should be fun." Alvin grumbled sarcastically.

Clementine lifted the trap with Luke and gently placed it on the ground. Nearly a dozen fish began to jump on the ground, some trying to go back in the stream.

"That's a lot of fish." Clementine mumbled to herself.

"Get them before they get away." Luke ordered.

She reached out and grabbed ahold of one of the fishes tails, but it was too slippery and it slipped from her grasp. She cursed and reached out again, but the fish managed to make its way back in the water.

She heard Alvin groan in disgust as he picked up a fish and threw it in the cooler. Luke laughed and threw a few more in there.

"I hate those damn things." Alvin mutters to himself, wiping his hands on his pants.

Acting fast, Clem managed to grab two of them, holding on tight to their tails as they tried to wiggle their way out her hands.

Watching from the distance, Austin laughed as he watched Clem make a face of disgust as she held the two fishes in her hands.

"Try to hurry over there, y'all." Pete warned, darting his eyes around the area, "We can't be here for too long. Lord knows who can be close by."

Clementine threw the fish in the cooler and took a look inside. There was about six fish inside, all flopping around like crazy. One of them managed to fling water on her face, making her groan at the smell.

"How much we got?" Luke asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"About six." Clementine answered.

Alvin smiled, "That ain't so bad. Looks like we'll all be eating fish tonight. Bec will be happy to hear this."

As the three started to praise about the fish, Austin noticed something from the corner of his eye. He looked at the island in the middle of the water to see a body laying on the ground, along with a backpack across from him.

Tilting his head to the side, the boy jumped on the rocks in the stream that led to the island.

"Austin?" He heard Clem call out as he walked closer to the body.

Kneeling down, he lifted the bag off the ground. The bag was purple with white on it and had pink and yellow flowers on it. Why would a bandit carry a bag like this around?

He glanced over at the body, noticing the injury sustained to his left arm. His arm had been shot, along with parts of his leg. Blood was seeping through his jacket and even onto the ground below.

"Holy shit…" Austin turned his head to see Clementine staring at the bag in awe.

"What?" He questioned.

Clem snatched the bag from his hands and opened it, going through whatever was inside.

Her water bottle was inside.

Her lighter was inside.

Her drawing of Kenny and his family was inside.

The photo of Lee was inside as well.

"This is my bag." She gasped, zipping the bag shut, "But how did…?"

Both kids looked at the body, which began to cough and wheeze. The man opened his eyes and spotted the two staring at him. His eyes went wide at the sight of Clementine.

"I…I…" He rasped out.

Clementine's eyes narrowed dangerously at the man. This was the guy who pointed his gun at Christa. That meant those bodies were the same people who raided her and Christa's camp!

She gritted her teeth together and clenched her fists. In one swift movement, she kicked the man in his ribs.

"Clem!" Austin held her back, "Whats wrong?"

"This is the guy who was in the woods with Christa." She hissed, "The Woman I was with. What happened to her?"

The man only continued to cough, this time with blood spilling out of his mouth.

Austin's eyes went wide. If she said they were raided by a group and this guy was a part of it, that meant those bodies belonged to that same group who separated her and her friend.

"Answer me!" Clem yelled out.

Austin placed his hands on her shoulders, "Whoa! Whoa! Easy there, Clem."

By now, the others turned their attention at them.

"Everything alright?" Luke asked as he walked closer to the island with Alvin following behind.

Austin nods his head as the two stood across from them, "We're fine. Just found someone who's barely alive."

"Holy shit." Luke's jaw dropped slightly, "Try to find out as much as you can. Me and Alvin are gonna check the other side."

While the two walked away, the man slowly raised his finger and pointed it at Clem's bag. The girl kept glaring at the guy while Austin eyed her bag.

"I think he wants something in there." He suggested.

Clementine shook her head, "I'm not giving him anything after what happened."

The man rasped again, "P-Please…w-water…"

Austin frowned at the man. He was on the brink of death and they needed answers on what happened. Perhaps giving him what he wanted will make him talk.

Then again, they would be just wasting supplies on a dead man. What if they needed the water later on?

"If we give you water, will you talk?" Austin asked the man, ignoring the look Clem was giving him.

The man nods.

"Water, Clem." Austin held out his hand.

The girl scoffed, "But why…?"

"We need answers, Clem." Austin cut her off, "And this guy is our only chance of finding out what happened here and what happened to your friend."

Clem bit the inside of her cheek. As much as she didn't want to help this man, she knew Austin was right. She had to know what happened to Christa. Maybe he knew where she went or where she was being held captive.

With a sigh, Clem unzipped her bag and handed Austin the nearly empty water bottle. The boy twisted the cap open and lifted the man's head up so he could drink. When the bottle finished, Austin handed it back to Clem and she put it back in her bag for later.

The man coughed for a moment before he gave a weak smile, "Thank you…thank you…"

"You got your end of the deal. Now it's our turn." Austin said with a serious tone, "What happened here? Who attacked you?"

The man gulped as the attack kept replaying in his head, "We…We were trying to…take the trap for ourselves when we got ...a-ambushed by these…people. They…they had guns and they asked us about…these people we never heard of."

Austin and Clem exchanged a worried look with each other.

"He…he said they were on the run…" the man continued, "He thought…we were lying to him and they fired at us. They got me good…"

"Did they mention anyone named Carver?" Austin questioned, raising his eyebrow.

"C-Carver…? I-I don't think so…maybe?" The man responded with uncertainty, "All I remember of him was…a brown fur coat."

 _Brown fur coat…_

"Is that all you can remember?" The boy asked, his voice sounding less serious and more worried.

"That…That bastard took one of my guys." The man replies, "He said…he said he saw something in him and took him. Then everting…went black. That's…that's all I remember."

Austin sighed. They were ambushed by another group, that's all that mattered to him. At least he knew what exactly went down here.

"Where's Christa? That woman I was with when you attacked us, where is she?" Clementine interrogated the man.

"C-Christa..?" The man took a deep breath of air.

Clementine narrowed her eyes, "Don't play dumb with me. Tell me where she is."

The man's eyelids stared to become heavy, "She…She's…"

"ARRGGHHH!"

Clem and Austin snapped their heads in the direction of the scream. Pete jumped back and shot a walker that was on the ground.

"Uncle Pete!" Nick cried out, looking over at his Uncle.

"What the hell happened?!" Luke yelled from the other side of the river.

"I'm fine! I'm fine." Pete replies before glancing down at his ankle, "Damn it. God dammit!"

Clementine's eyes trailed down at his ankle. A bite mark was on it along with blood. Her eyes went wide in shock.

"Fuck!" They heard Luke yell as walkers began to emerge from the woods near them. He took out his machete and went to work while Alvin stood behind him.

Nick kept firing his rifle at them, which started to make more come out from the woods.

Both Clem and Austin looked around frantically, not knowing whose side to help.

"I'm out of ammo!" Pete shouted as more walkers started to swarm him, "Jesus Christ!"

Nick looked over at his Uncle and aimed his rifle. He took aim and pulled the trigger.

 _Click._

 _Click._

His gun was out of ammo as well.

"Uncle Pete!"

"ARRRGGHH!"

Nick and the others watched in horror as Pete was getting chunks bitten out of him. A handful of walkers began to feast on the older man's body, ripping his stomach open and getting the goods inside like candy out of a piñata.

"NOOO!" Nick screamed.

Austin unsheathed his knife before facing Clementine, "Go with Luke and Alvin! I'll help out Nick!"

"But what about you?" She asks in concern.

"I'll be fine! Don't worry." He flashed her a warm smile before running off the island and stabbing a walker once he returned by Nick's side.

Another walker came after him. He slowly backed away until the walker dove off its feet to get him. The boy dodged, making the walker land stomach first on the ground, and plunged his knife through the top of its skull.

One of the walkers that feasted on Pete spotted the boy and turned his attention towards him. Austin glared up at it and prepared for it. Just when it came closer, the butt of a rifle nailed it right in the cheek. The walker collapsed on the ground, stunned.

Austin looked up and saw Nick glare at the walker. He walked past the boy and repeatedly smashed the walker's head with his rifle.

"Nick!" Austin shouted as the man kept hitting the walker, "Nick! We have to go now!"

He grabbed the man's arm and tried to drag him away from the already dead walker.

Nick took one last look at his Uncle before closing his eyes, unable to watch him be devoured any longer.

Clementine and the others ran from the walkers on their side.

"We have to go."

* * *

 _ **(Lee): Next time on The Walking Dead...**_

 _Austin crosses his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes at Nick._

 _"What're we going to do?"_

 _Nick only took a sip of moonshine in response._

 _"Somebody's outside."_

 _Both Austin and Clem looked out the window to see a figure approach the front door._

 _Clementine opened the door where a man with a handlebar mustache stood outside, a smirk on his face._

 _"Hello there."_

 _Austin and Clem sat across each other at the kitchen table._

 _"It's too dangerous here, Clem. We have to leave. That guy at the door...it's like what that man said at the river."_

 _"Where will we go?"_

 _"Far from here for starters. We'll think of a plan then."_

 _Luke and the others were walking alongside a pathway that led to the mountains before Rebecca stopped and placed her hand on her husband's shoulder._

 _"I can't keep going like this."_

 _"I reckon we have about four...or five days to reach those mountains."_

 _Austin held out his knife as two men started to surround him while carrying rifles in their hands. The others stood back with some raising their hands in the air._

 _"We ain't here to rob nobody. Just relax and put the gun down, man."_

 _"This kid's a fighter..."_

 _Clementine moved past the others before coming to a halt next to the boy. Her eyes went wide at who was standing right in front of them._

 _"I thought you were dead."_

 ** _Episode 2: A House Divided_**

* * *

 _ **Author:** Thank your for reading! I'm also looking for feedback on this story, so feel free to air out your thoughts or even suggestions about this story. I love you guys for the support!_

 _Plus Ultra!_


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